$\"roasted$ <\/p>\n

Ever since I first heard of roasting strawberries, I’ve been waiting for a chance to try it out. Since strawberries are starting to show up around here<\/a>, I tossed a pound of them with balsamic vinegar and threw them in the oven. The result is wonderfully concentrated flavor, perfect for savory or sweet applications. I chose to use them in this savory salad with quinoa. The quinoa is a great foil to the strawberries, absorbing their juices and providing a good base for the salad, along with spinach. Walnuts on top for crunch and blue cheese to balance the sweetness of the strawberries make this salad a winner. It comes together quickly, with the quinoa cooking while the strawberries roast, and I liked it best served at room temperature – perfect for packing for lunch. I think this would also be a great unique addition to a brunch spread.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nRoasted Strawberry Quinoa Salad<\/span><\/strong>
\nYield: 3 – 4 entrees or 6 – 8 sides<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
3\/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well<\/span><\/li>\n
1 1\/2 cups water<\/span><\/li>\n
1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved<\/span><\/li>\n
1 1\/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar<\/span><\/li>\n
8 ounces spinach, torn into pieces<\/span><\/li>\n
1 Tbsp olive oil<\/span><\/li>\n
salt and pepper, to taste<\/span><\/li>\n
1\/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped<\/span><\/li>\n

2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Method:
\n<\/p>\n
\n
Preheat oven to 400\u00b0F.<\/li>\n
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, toast 3\/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well<\/em> until fragrant, about 5 minutes.<\/li>\n
Add 1 1\/2 cups water<\/em>, and bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and let simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 20 minutes.<\/li>\n
Meanwhile, toss 1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved<\/em> with 1 1\/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar<\/em>. Spread evenly in a roasting pan, and cook until softened and fragrant, about 10 minutes.<\/li>\n
Remove the strawberries from the oven, and set aside to cool.<\/li>\n
When the quinoa is done, remove from heat, and fluff with a fork, then set aside to cool.<\/li>\n
Toss 8 ounces spinach, torn into pieces<\/em> with 1 Tbsp olive oil<\/em>, 1 Tbsp of the balsamic strawberry juices from the roasting pan, and salt and pepper, to taste<\/em>. Adjust the quantities, as needed (you want the spinach to be a little overdressed since you will be adding more ingredients to the salad).<\/li>\n
Top the spinach with the cooked quinoa, roasted strawberries, 1\/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped<\/em>, and 2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled<\/em>. This salad can be served immediately (with the quinoa and strawberries still warm) or refrigerated and served cold or at room temperature.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>
Related Posts:<\/h3>
Tropical Black Bean Quinoa Salad<\/a><\/li>
Mediterranean Fig Salad<\/a><\/li>
Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad<\/a><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ever since I first heard of roasting strawberries, I’ve been waiting for a chance to try it out. Since strawberries are starting to show up around here, I tossed a pound of them with balsamic vinegar and threw them in the oven. The result is wonderfully concentrated flavor, perfect for savory or sweet applications. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[3,6,120,11],"tags":[384,519,394,51,470,397,416,121,124,93,95,106,188],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1OY2q-Xi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3707,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions\/3707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seletsucre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}