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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

LUNCHBOX IDEAS :: WARM WINTER SALAD

This salad does not contain egg, dairy or gluten.


When the temperatures drop and I'm surrounded by snow everywhere with no prospect of it melting any time soon, a warm salad is in order for lunch.  I build it with lots of color and not too much fuss but with a must-have nutritional powerhouse. 



This salad came together on Monday when we enjoyed a snow day.  During Winter I'll take any excuse I can to turn on the oven and warm up the house with the smell of roasting vegetables or  banana bread baking in the oven.  There are certain smells I tend to gravitate too like that of peppers roasting and I'm wondering whether my kiddos will grow up to associate these smells with Winter.  

Here are the details you need to make this salad at home.  All ingredients are from Trader Joe's.  

Ingredients

4 servings
1 bag of Tuscan kale
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
3 small sweet potatos
Trader Joe's "Everything but the Bagel Seasoning"
1 cup of quinoa
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
salt

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Warm up the oven to 450F.  Wash and peel the sweet potatos and cut into slices.  Wash the pepper and cut into strips.  Place on an oven tray lined with foil and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle Trader Joe's "Everything but the Bagel" seasoning.  Bake in the oven for about 35 min, turning the sweet potato slices over once so that they bake evenly.  You will need to take out the pepper slices in about 15 minutes.  

In the meantime, prepare 1 cup of quinoa.  Boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of quinoa. Simmer until the quinoa cooks and almost all the water is absorbed.  Set aside.  Peel the garlic and sautee in some olive oil.  Rinse the kale and saute in the garlic until it's wilted.  Add the baked sweet potatos and peppers.  Mix gently.  Add the quinoa last and mix.  Allow to cool. 


How pretty does this look?  I'm loving the sweet potatos in it!  It is filling but will not leave you in a carb comma after lunch.  Let's talk nutrients-  the quinoa and kale have a plethora of essential vitamins and minerals and good-for-you plant protein.  The sweet potatos and pepper pack some much needed vitamin c and some fiber too for your digestive tract.  I'm a big fan of sweet potatos so I'll take any opportunity to add them to my meals when I can.

Now tell me, are you team kale or team spinach?  I notice I seem to be favoring kale right now over here.

Enjoy this super easy and flavorful salad!  Take a photo and share on Instagram using #peoniesandalatte to show us your creations.


Thank you for reading this post!






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