I’m in such a pumpkin mood lately. I guess it is the fall really setting in with rainy days, beautiful autumn colors all around. I used to mainly stick to making pumpkin soup (love, love, love, love pumpkin soup), but this year I’m feeling a bit more adventures and coming up with a bunch of other ways to include pumpkins in our lives/diets. Which has led to a variety of pies, risottos, salads, soups and even stuffed pumpkin. Some of the recipes still needs a bit of tweaking but others are ready to be shared with all of you guys. And today I’m sharing this Autumn Style Quinoa Salad with butternut squash, brussel sprouts, apple, grapes and honey roasted nuts.
Growing up I never had brussel sprouts because my mom didn’t like them, so I walked around for years and years thinking I wouldn’t like them. I finally got over myself and tired them 2-3 years ago. And I had to admit to myself that I really liked the bitterness they have. As an added bonus bitter veggies promotes the release of gal, which aids in the digestion of fats.
Now it is time for the nuts, the crunchy sweet and salty nuts. These are delicious on top of salads but also just as a snack. I used a mix of macadamia nuts and pistachios. In terms of histamine intolerance macadamias is the safest, so if this is the only nut you tolerate by all means stick to that. When I started on the low histamine diet, I decided to only eliminate cashew and walnuts, which both act as histamine liberators. The rest of the nuts I make sure to rotate, so that I don’t get too much of one kind of nuts. And I try to avoid eating nuts on a daily basis. Macadamias I consider safe. This works for me and allows me to keep most nuts in my diet. However, we are all different and you have to do what works for you.
So back to the crunchy, yummy sweet and salty roasted nuts. Choose your nuts (raw) and roast them on a dry pan over low heat, keep moving the nuts around in the pan. Once they start to brown a little bit, turn off the heat and add some (sea)salt and sweet paprika to the pan. Stir the nuts, so the spices are evenly distributed over the nuts and the pan. Then add a teaspoon of honey to the pan and give it another stir, coating all of the nuts. I know I have already said, but I will say it again. This tastes so good, perfect snack or salad topping.
Once the veggies and fruit are done, serve it all up and enjoy. A perfect mix for a rainy day. Enjoy.
- 75 g Quinoa
- 2 dl bouillon (vegetable or chicken)
- 250 g butternut squash
- 80-100 g brussel sprouts
- 1 apple
- 1 red onion
- 75-100 g red grapes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 20 g macadamia nuts
- 20 g pistachios
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp honey
- Preheat the oven at 180 °C (360 °F)
- Prep the veggies and fruit. Cut the butternut squash and apple into small cubes, cut the red onion in eight parts length wise, and half the grapes. I left the brussel sprouts whole since they where relatively small. Put them all on an oven tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and toss with a bit of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.
- Cook the quinoa. Roast the quinoa in the dry pan for a few minutes before adding the bouillon. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
- Roast the raw nuts on a dry pan over low heat, keep moving the nuts around in the pan. Once they start to brown a little bit, turn off the heat and add some (sea)salt and sweet paprika to the pan. Stir the nuts, so the spices are evenly distributed over the nuts and the pan. Then add a teaspoon of honey to the pan and give it another stir, coating all of the nuts in the spiced honey.
- Once the veggies and fruit are done, serve it all up and enjoy. The nutritional value are based on one out of two servings.
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