Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Salad with Sweet Orange Dressing

I absolutely love Brussels Sprouts - I just love 'em! And if you don't,  then I guarantee you've only ever had them boiled - which makes them grosser than gross, so I totally understand your disgust. Roasted Brussels are the best and believe it or not, I love them raw, too. This salad calls for raw Brussels which certainly makes life easier. And what made my life even easier than that was that I bought my Brussels already sliced. AND easier still, I bought my quinoa pre-cooked in the frozen section. So, this little dinner took me under 15 minutes to throw together. Now imagine how simple this little dish will be to serve on Thanksgiving! I'm doing it!!! One side - DONE!

One thing to note - I wasn't sure what type of cheese to use in this salad. I just love blue cheese and how it pairs with apples and walnuts, so I went with blue. But, I know not everyone is a big blue cheese fan, so I tried a couple of bites with feta, too. I liked the feta, but I prefer the blue cheese. So, just go with your gut on the cheese. Or leave it off all together. 
 
Enjoy!

 
Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, rinsed and ends trimmed, then halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (I bought these pre-sliced- saved me tons of time!)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (I buy it precooked in the frozen section- so easy!)
• 1 crisp apple, finely chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries OR fresh pomegranate seeds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted on 400F for ~ 6 minutes
• crumbled blue cheese OR feta cheese (your preference), optional
• salt & pepper to taste

•  sweet orange vinaigrette (see below)

Orange Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice (about 1/2 a juicy orange)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 - 2 Tbl pure maple syrup or honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
• pinch of salt and pepper

 

Pre-cooked frozen quinoa makes this dinner easy

Directions:

To Make The Salad:

Toss all ingredients together (except the cheese) until combined.

To Make the Sweet Orange Dressing:
 
Whisk all ingredients together until combined.

To serve:
Pour dressing on salad (it's okay if you pour on an hour or so before and let it marinate). Toss and serve. Sprinkle cheese, if using, on top of each serving. Enjoy!