New England Harvest Salad

This salad is my life right now.

It’s the thing getting me through this fall. And it was my summer thing too. It can be a year round thing actually. 

When I first came up to Boston over a dozen years ago, I stumbled across The Wrap, which was a local burrito shop. I started my love affair with The Wrap with their Buffalo Chicken burrito. Since then, they have picked up a new name, opened a bunch of locations, and expanded their menu. One of there salads is the New England Harvest.

I’ve been hooked on it every since I ordered it, skipping my usual Tofu Teriyaki burrito for the salad made with baby kale and topped with quinoa, mushrooms, squash, dried cranberries, goat cheese that is topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. A fantastic combo of textures and flavors. I love it!!

Besides the flavors and textures, I love how easy it is to make this salad. In fact it’s all about preparing the different toppings in advance in a large batch and then you can use assemble salads. I typically prepare enough ingredients to make 4 salads so I make enough quinoa to yield 2 Cups, buy 1 pound of mushrooms, roast 1/2 a small butternut squash. The rest of it is prepared ingredients, like beets that I just dice up. Super simple.

I don’t often include the dried cranberries, but that is more about that fact that we don’t have them and not about me not liking it. I blame the toddler who can eat most of a bag in a sitting. (Goodbye money!)

When I make this for Price I omit the beets in his since he thinks they taste like dirt!

This will be an instant favorite and will bring lovely New England into your house.

New England Harvest Salad

Makes 1 awesome salad

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of baby kale
• 1/2 Cup quinoa
• 1/2 Cup roasted diced butternut squash
• 1/4 Cup sauteed sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 Cup diced/sliced beets
• dried cranberries
• 1 oz goat cheese
• balsamic vinaigrette/olive and vinegar

Process

1. Layer the baby kale in your bowl.
2. Then top with each portion of quiona, butternut squash, mushrooms, beets.
3. Then top with dried cranberries and crumbled goat cheese.
4. Drizzle with dressing.