Virginia's Life, Such As It Is!: Gourmet with Dana: Fall Harvest Quinoa with Butternut Squash {Vegan Recipe}

Friday, October 19, 2012

Gourmet with Dana: Fall Harvest Quinoa with Butternut Squash {Vegan Recipe}

Fall Harvest Quinoa with Butternut Squash

Welcome back to my mini-series on Gourmet with Dana. No, I'm not Dana. She's my sister-in-law, and an amazing chef and baker! Dana made many of the recipes in this series as a feast for my mother's 74th birthday earlier this month, and I asked her to share her wealth of culinary expertise. I ate several servings of this dish over the weekend -- so good and so good for you!

This makes a wonderfully fancy and hearty dish for a Thanksgiving or other holiday meal. Please note that the Fall Harvest Quinoa with Butternut Squash is vegan, so it's a great choice if you are hosting family or friends who don't eat animal products.

Fall Harvest Quinoa with Butternut Squash

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 12-oz box of quinoa
1 cup dried cranberies
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (reserve several leaves for decoration)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil plus more for frying sage leaves
2 tsp dried ground sage
2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine 1/2 cup canola oil, maple syrup, dried sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Toss butternut squash in mixture, making sure to coat all the cubes evenly.
Spread out squash on foil-lined baking sheet, roast for 30 minutes or until fork-tender; set aside.
Prepare quinoa according to package instructions.
Saute shallots and chopped sage until the shallots are translucent; remove from heat.
Fold squash, cranberries, chopped sage, and shallots into cooked quinoa.
Heat about 1 inch of canola oil on high until a drop of water causes the oil to bubble and sizzle; quickly fry whole sage leaves in oil and remove with slotted spoon. NOTE: Be sure your whole sage leaves are as dry as possible after washing so that they won't splatter you with hot oil!
Garnish quinoa with fried sage leaves.