Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups cooked black or wild rice
- 2 cups cooked whole wheat couscous
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and seeded
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 2 beets, peeled
- 2 cups red-skinned seedless grapes
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup Marzetti® Simply Dressed® Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
- 2 avocados, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Chop butternut squash, sweet potato, and beets into uniform 1/4" - 1/2" pieces. Place vegetables on separate aluminum foil lined baking sheets, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and season with Kosher salt. Toss to coat and make sure they are in a single layer. Roast until tender, about 20-30 minutes (cooking time will vary depending upon how large the vegetables were chopped... squash and sweet potato cooks more quickly than beets typically).
- Place grapes in a single layer on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with Kosher salt. Toss to coat and roast until grapes wrinkle and collapse slightly, about 20-25 minutes.
- Grains and roasted vegetables should not be piping hot when assembling salad. It's best if they've had a chance to cool a bit (room temperature is totally great). Combine rice, couscous, desired amount of roasted vegetables and grapes (about 2 to 3 cups), chopped walnuts, crumbled feta, and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Drizzle in balsamic vinaigrette, toss to coat, and divide among bowls. Top with sliced avocado and devour immediately.
Notes
Feel free to substitute other grains as desired. Quinoa, brown rice, farro, lentils, etc. will all work great!
Although I've given approximate amounts of each ingredient, please customize this salad to your liking. Want more walnuts or feta cheese? Go for it. Less parsley? Rock on. And I would suggest starting with a smaller amount of dressing, mix it in, and taste. Keep adding a little more, tasting along the way, until you reach that perfect balance.
You'll probably have more roasted vegetables and grapes than you need. Refrigerate unused portion for up to several days and use for something else (mix in to some pasta one night, make some crostini, etc.).