Hello, pretty little quinoa salad!

May I say you look mighty darling dressed up in that lovely and lively assortment of flavor friends?

You do! You really really do.

Quinoa is the fix for a brain gone bananas! Quinoa is the cure to a body craving love and nutrition. Quinoa makes last nights dinner of popcorn and sangria totally cool.

Thanks, quinoa… you’re a rock star.

This quinoa is dolled up with a large cast of characters; Let’s meet the star of the show: cauliflower!

We chop it up, drizzle it with olive oil and lemon juice, touch it up with garlic and salt and pepper (howdy, flavor town!), and roast it until golden and bursting with potential. QUICK! Let’s grate some parmesan on this pan of roasted beauty for our cheesy fix.

Once we’ve got our cauliflower situation handled, we move on to the rest of our sassy cast: fresh herbs – more specifically thyme, mint, and parsley – are brilliant and bring vivacious flavor, while capers and olives are the perfect briny accompaniment to each bite.

A bright roasted garlic vinaigrette wraps this little dish up, and seals the deal for a fabulous meal.

Let’s just say yes to quinoa, ok? It will keep your health up and your belly full until our next date where we’ll talk peanut butter.

Happy weekend!

Warm Roasted Cauliflower Quinoa Salad – Baker by Nature

For the Quinoa Salad:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup kalamata olives chopped

2 tablespoons capers

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cooking the quinoa:

Bring quinoa and stock to boil; reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the liquid has completely evaporated (about 15 minutes).

Roasting the cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cloves garlic left whole with skins on (this will be used later in our dressing)

salt and pepper to taste (about a teaspoon of each)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 500 degrees (F). Chop up cauliflower in small bite size pieces and spread evenly on a parchment paper lines sheet pan. Drizzle the oil and lemon juice over cauliflower, then season with garlic, salt and pepper. Place whole cloves of garlic on pan as well. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, giving it a stir half way in. Remove the pan from oven, place roasted garlic cloves aside, and sprinkle cauliflower with grated parmesan.

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons warm water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 cloves roasted garlic

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Putting it all together:

In a large bowl mix the quinoa and roasted cauliflower together. Add capers, olives, mint, thyme, parsley, and dressing – mix well and enjoy!