Roast Pumpkin Quinoa & Cherry Salad with Walnut Oil

December 21, 2021

This really is an EPIC summer salad! Great whenever cherries are at their peak; particularly for Christmas or New Year BBQ season. Our Walnut oil is the hidden star of the show providing a lovely gloss and savoury notes to the bold herbs, roasted pumpkin, pickled onion, sweet cherries, creamy fetta and seeds. There's so much going on in this salad that it is also great without any accompaniments!

This salad is:

Protein rich
Gluten free
Vegan option - omit the fetta & replace with dairy free alternative
High fibre & slow release carbohydrates
Rich in magnesium, iron, zinc, selenium, manganese and folate

You'll need:

1 cup of quinoa (we used tri colour)
1/2 butternut pumpkin (diced into 2cm cubes)
1/2 TBSP each of pumpkin seed oil and sunflower oil
2 TBSP pumpkin seeds plus extra for topping
2 TBSP sunflower seeds plus extra for topping
1 cup of halved and pitted cherries plus a few extra for topping
1 firmly packed cup of coarsely chopped fresh herbs (mint, coriander, parsley)
1/2 thinly sliced red onion (or use pickled onion which takes this dish it to another level! - I use the following recipe from cookie & kate: quick pickled onion and just use our apple cider vinegar to replace the other vinegar options)
Juice of 1 lemon
100g soft fetta crumbled (We love our local Tolpuddle Marinated Gem - Persian style Fetta)
1/4 cup of walnut oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200degrees. place diced pumpkin onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. drizzle with sunflower oil and pumpkin seed oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast until cooked through and caramelized (~30mins). Set aside to cool
Meanwhile put a medium saucepan filled with water over high heat and bring to the boil, add a few pinches of salt. Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a colander and add to the pot. Cook for 10-15mins or until just tender (its better a little bit underdone for better texture). Drain in a sieve and set aside to cool and drain completely
Add cooked quinoa, lemon juice, chopped herbs, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, halved cherries & walnut oil to a large mixing bowl. Mix through
Transfer mixture to a serving platter or large shallow bowl, top with roast pumpkin, crumble over the fetta, sprinkle some more seeds and cherries over the top.

Perfect with anything roasted in the oven or on the BBQ this summer!