Power Salad

My son is taking a marathon nap today. I cleaned the house. Did yoga. Had a snack. Did crosswords. Watched youtube...Then I thought, 'Hey, let's keep this productive train going and make a blog post.' Fancy that. I figured he'd probably wake up the second I got logged in, but so far, so good. Fingers crossed...

Anyway, I have been really horrid at posting lately. So this salad is from the fall/early winter. If you can still find ripe pomegranates...go for it. When they aren't in season, I use craisins. Not quite the same, but they do the job just fine.

Many people ask why I call this a "Power Salad"? That is because this salad is fully of power foods. Super foods. Magic foods. Whatever you want to call them is fine, but it is full of foods that are SO GOOD for you. Plus it has protein, anti oxidants, fat, whole grains, dark greens, the list goes on and on. Plus it is delicious and I can prove it. This is a favorite for parties and it always gets demolished. Like demolished at a Super Bowl Party. (I think it was the only healthy thing there.)

But anyway, enough about all that, let's talk about the food shall we? Because this delicious vegan, gluten free salad full of protein, anti oxidants, and super foods to fuel your body and make your taste buds sing.

Ingredients

Green Leaf Lettuce, washed and shredded

Kale, washed, de-stemmed, and shredded

1 Avocado

1 c Quinoa, uncooked

1 c Dry Black Beans, or 1.5 cans, rinsed and drained

1 Pomegranate, seeded

1/4 c Pumpkin Seeds, hulled, not salted

**I use craisins when pomegranates aren't in season**

1/2 c Pistachios, shelled

1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced

Directions

1. If you are making your own beans, combine 1 c beans with 4 c water and soak 3-4 hours.

**If you are lazy like me, rinse the dry beans and combine 1 c beans with 3 c water in pressure cooker and pressure cook 30 minutes (25 minutes for instant pot). Use the slow release method.

2. If you soaked bans, drain and rinse beans and combine in pressure cooker with 3 c water. Pressure cook 6 minutes and use slow release method.

**If you are using canned beans, skip these steps**

3. While beans are cooking, combine quinoa with 2 c water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover, stirring occasionally until soft.

5. peel and dice butternut squash.

6. Steam butternut squash, 12 minutes in a steamer or 5 minutes in pressure cooker (use quick release. This helps the squash not get mushy.)

7. Combine quinoa, black beans, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, and pomegranate seeds and stir to combine. Set aside.

8. Wash, dry, and shred lettuce and kale. Top with quinoa mix

9. Dice avocado and top salad with avocado

10. Service with your favorite balsamic vinaigrette

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