This is a perfect fall recipe! I don’t even know what to say besides it’s delicious. It is delicious if (and only if) you like blue cheese. If not, move on, please. I happen to love blue cheese – a little bit goes a long way and has a ton of flavor!
When my husband is out of town, I tend to eat meatless. He loves meat and so we rarely have a meatless night. When I perfected this recipe, I ate it for dinner. Full disclosure, I ate it all (this almost never happens to me!). This recipe can be a side dish or a light entree. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (I prefer truRoots)
- 6 cups (2 lbs) cubed organic butternut squash
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 10 medjool dates, pits removed & quartered by length
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon blue cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- Peel, seed, and cube butternut squash (or buy pre-cubed)
- Toss butternut squash with cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Place on greased or lined baking sheet and bake for ~35 minutes or until tender.
- While the butternut squash bakes, prepare quinoa according to instructions — [Instant Pot Quinoa Instructions]
- After starting the quinoa, pit, and cut the dates into quarters by length
- When there is 10 minutes remaining on the squash timer, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a saute pan over the stove until hot, and add in the dates
- After dates have cooked a few minutes, add balsamic vinegar
- Once balsamic vinegar is fully absorbed, turn off heat
- Place the quinoa at the bottom of the dish, followed by squashed, dates and topped with blue cheese.
- Serve immediately & enjoy!
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