Thanksgiving Salad

5 from 10 votes

Thanksgiving Salad is on the menu on Sweet Caramel Sunday! With colourful ingredients and a Sweet Peach Drizzle your Thanksgiving table will be complete!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Dinner, leftovers, Lunch, thanksgiving

Cuisine: American, Australian, International

Keyword: quinoa salad, thanksgiving

Servings:

Calories: 585kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Thanksgiving Salad

1 butternut pumpkin peeled and diced, seeds removed
200 grams streaky bacon
400 g chickpeas drained and rinsed
280 g sun-dried tomatoes drained, not rinsed
1 bunch kale top ¾, rinsed and shredded
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
⅓ cup olive oil
2 cups tri-colour quinoa dried
4 cups water

Sweet Peach Drizzle

825g peach slices in syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions

Thanksgiving Salad

Preheat the oven to 180 to 190 C (350–375 F). Line one baking tray with grease-proof paper. Line another with grease-proof paper and a wire rack
Place bacon on wire rack and cook for 20 minutes or until crispy. When cool, cut with kitchen scissors.
Cut pumpkin in half. Remove seeds using a spoon. Peel, then chop into small cubes
In a small mixing bowl, combine olive oil, chilli flakes, cumin, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Use a pastry brush to coat pumpkin pieces. Cook for 20 minutes on top rack of oven. Use a skewer or fork to test that the pieces are thoroughly cooked. If the skewer doesn't go straight through, cook for another 5 minutes and test again.
Add dried quinoa and water to a medium sized saucepan, bring to the boil. Stir occasionally. The water will fully absorb into the grain.
Drain and rinse chickpeas
Drain oil from sun-dried tomatoes. Chop into small pieces
Use the top ¾ of the bunch of kale. Cut this into smaller pieces, then use a food processor to shred. Add 3 tablespoons of the peach syrup to the kale and stir to combine
Dress and toss salad with Sweet Peach Drizzle

Sweet Peach Drizzle

Open can and pour contents (minus 3 tablespoons syrup needed for kale) into a medium sized saucepan
Add brown sugar and bring to boil, stir to combine
Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes
When cool use a handheld blender to blitz peaches into smooth liquid

Notes

This makes a HUGE salad folks, I am not kidding, it is HUGGGGEEE!!
If you really really can't handle the thought of the kale, stick with green and use spinach leaves instead. (But you will be happy if you give the kale a try....trust me)
Use kitchen scissors to chop your sun dried tomatoes and bacon
When dressing the salad, pour the Sweet Peach Drizzle directly onto the kale and then mix it all in
A salad like this is easy to toss using 2 spoons and moving your hands around at the same time to mix it all in together
The chilli flakes won't make the pumpkin TOO spicy. But if you really don't like chilli or know a guest who won't, use thyme instead
The wire rack method for cooking the bacon will ensure that the fat drips off onto the lower part of the tray, so the bacon doesn't sit in it.
You CAN use a microwave rice cooker to make your quinoa (whoop whoop hooray isn't that the BEST thing EVER, hello more time to dance around the kitchen!)
I used a jar of sun-dried tomatoes hence the oil, you can also get them from the grocery deli section fresh, not in oil
Don't discard the peach syrup, we use some for flavouring the kale to take away the bitterness and some for cooking the peaches
It is best to wait till the peaches are COOL before blitzing them. This is especially true if using a blender. If you are in a hurry, you can place the saucepan into the fridge for a bit which will cool the contents

Nutrition