Roasted Vegetable Salad

Lately, I have been going back to a lot of the really basic meals I would make when I first made the transition to a plant-based diet. It was 10.5 years ago (wow!), we had be married about 6 months, P.S. my husband was not happy about it, and we were poor college students. So we ate rice, beans, and vegetables. That is pretty much it. That is still a lot of what we eat, but the beans vary more, I add in fancy things....like lentils....I wish you could see how hard I am laughing about that one. But there is a lot more variation in my cooking than there used to be.

But anyway, I have been doing a lot simpler meals lately because 1. they are easy 2. they are cheap 3. they are delicious 4. they are fast. It was when I was working full time or multiple jobs, climbing multiple times a week, still dancing, and running (Oh the things you can do when you don't have children....) so I didn't have the time to be in the kitchen as much as I am now.

Long story short: with the madness of this week: election, covid, house projects, virtual school, etc. I haven't been to the store in a week, and when you live off fresh produce, that is a long time. This meal came when I was getting towards the end of the veggies and they needed to be eaten. It was so good. Last night we had rice and beans for lunch and dinner. And my kids were stoked. They ate it all without any gripes or being reminded a billion times to eat their dinner. It was so nice. Maybe I will just go back to rice and beans for every meal....

Anyway, this meal is super easy.

1. Chop vegetables

2. Mix with oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

3. Roast

4. Put quinoa in a rice cooker and walk away until it is done.

5. Throw some greens on a plate, top with quinoa, veggies, and craisins because I was feeling fancy. So easy.

PS Here is the kid version. Salad is still hard for my 2-year-old to eat and my 5-year-old insists "green things are only for smoothies" but we are still trying with every meal to get him to eat them. Also, I threw some marinara sauce on their quinoa so wasn't so dry on its own.

Ingredients

4-5 Red Potatoes, sliced in rounds

1 Acorn Squash, seeded, skinned, and diced (Butternut squash will work too.)

1 Zucchini, sliced in rounds

1/2 Yellow Onion, Chopped

1 Head Garlic

Olive Oil, 2 T

Balsamic Vinegar 1/4 c

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1 c Quinoa

1/2 c Craisins, optional

Greens, your choice (I used spinach)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and chop vegetables except for garlic.

2. Place vegetables in a bowl and drizzle with oil and vinegar, stir, season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes until fork tender.

3. Cut off the tips of the garlic so the tips of the cloves are exposed. Rub with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Wrap in foil and place on the baking sheet to roast.

4. Meanwhile, put 1 c quinoa with 2 c water in a rice cooker and cook. Or, in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, and simmer, stirring occasionally until soft.

5. Once vegetables and quinoa are done. Place washed greens on a plate and top with quinoa, veggies, and craisins.

**For the garlic, you just squeeze the cloves out of the skins. SO GOOD.**

6. ENJOY.