The Holidays According to Nashville, Part 5: Meals 4 Health and Healing
The holidays are a great time to include your kids in the kitchen. To help your family achieve this, throughout December we will be sharing seasonal recipes from cooks across Nashville. These are all dishes to help you celebrate, and help you include the kiddos in the fun of cooking and baking this holiday season.
For our next installment, we share with you a perfect side to your Christmas entree: Cranberry Butternut Squash Quinoa, compliments of our friends at Meals 4 Health and Healing. Festive and filling, you will feel fabulous eating this immune-boosting salad that even picky eaters will like!
About Meals 4 Health and Healing: Meals 4 Health and Healing loves to involve teens in their kitchen each week to help prepare organic, nutrient-dense foods for people (free of charge) who are in cancer treatment. We deliver meals right to our clients’ doors, and every dish is packed with goodness so that clients have the most nutrition possible. We use quinoa in lots of our dishes, as it is a rich source of protein. The butternut squash, cranberries, and oranges are additional powerhouses of good vitamins and minerals. This is a great, simple recipe for anytime but especially during the holidays!
INGREDIENTS (preferably all organic):
- 6 cups quinoa
- 12 cups filtered water
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- 6 cups butternut squash, small dice
- 6 cups dried cranberries, diced
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
- juice of 3 oranges
- 3/4 c olive oil (to taste)
- salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Bring quinoa and water to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook until all water is absorbed and quinoa is tender (15-20 minutes).
2. Warm a skillet over medium high heat and melt coconut oil. Saute butternut squash in a pinch of salt until tender. Stir in cranberries, honey, nutmeg, and thyme and saute for another 30-60 seconds until aromatic.
3. Mix in quinoa and add orange juice and olive oil. Season with salt to taste.
Enjoy!