Chef Jenny of Kaiser Permanente shows you how to make a delicious greens-and-grains salad with delicata squash and other variations. Plus, she shows you a bunch of techniques that make cooking super easy.

Chef Jenny’s Cooking Hacks:

• Trick to dicing onions
• Get pomegranate seeds out super-easily
• Make gourmet salad dressing with this simple emulsion trick
• How to make quinoa taste great
• How to roast vegetables
• Chef’s knife techniques

Recipe: Quinoa Salad with Delicata Squash, Goat Cheese, and Baby Kale

By: Chef Jenny

This quinoa salad is full of flavor and has enough protein and fiber to keep you full throughout your day. It’s a great choice for packing as a weekday lunch or creating a colorful side dish for a holiday dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Delicata squash, cubed (¾ inch)
• 1 cup Uncooked quinoa
• 1 ½ cups Water
• 1 Seeded pomegranate (can sub dried cranberries or dried cherries)
• 1/2 cup Crumbled goat cheese or feta
• 1/4 cup Toasted nuts or seeds (pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, almonds, pecans
• 3 cups Baby kale or arugula
• Dressing:
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1 T Shallot
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, toss diced squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the squash out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and roast until tender and lightly browned (about 20 minutes).
2. Rinse quinoa with water using a fine mesh sieve (this removes the bitterness). In a saucepan, bring the water to boil and then add the rinsed quinoa. Simmer on very low heat, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow quinoa to rest for 5 more minutes, covered. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.
3. Add all of the ingredients for the dressing into a jar and shake! Taste for sweetness, acid, and salt.
4. Arrange the salad: feel free to get artistic! You can mix everything together in a big bowl* or just toss the quinoa and squash with the vinaigrette, serve over a bed of greens, and sprinkle additional ingredients all over it. Taste again, may need a sprinkle of salt. Enjoy! *If quinoa or squash are still quite hot, the greens will wilt and the cheese will melt. Consider letting these ingredients cool before tossing together.