Here’s a healthy alternative to use up those Thanksgiving leftovers. This Leftover Turkey Quinoa Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette is so easy to put together and every bite is bursting with deliciousness!
I’m finally done posting all of my Thanksgiving recipes, WooHoo! I hope you guys enjoyed them and are even planning to make some of them for Turkey Day.
It’s so fun creating these recipes but at the same time it’s weird because I’m not on a normal eating pattern.
For instance, I made my Thanksgiving dinner on Halloween, I know that sounds super strange. Because it takes a lot of time to put together these recipes, take photos, edit photos, shoot video, etc, etc. But I love it!
Gavin thought is was pretty cool eating Thanksgiving dinner on Halloween. He’s at the age now where he’s too old to trick or treat. So we stayed in and gorged ourselves into a Turkey food coma and watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Watching this show is always a tradition in our house, I’ve been watching it every year since I was a kid. 🙂
Now if you wanted to, you could serve this salad as part of your Thanksgiving feast and just omit the Turkey. This would make a great vegetarian salad as well.
This is really easy to make.
In a large bowl I added a Spinach Arugula salad mix.
Added in the cooked Quinoa (I used a Red Quinoa for festive colors).
Then add the leftover Turkey, Apple, Celery, dried Cranberries, and Apple Smoked Gouda Cheese.
Toss it all with this homemade Cranberry Vinaigrette and you’ve got a super healthy salad to eat after gorging on all of the Thanksgiving goodies from the day before!
This salad will keep for about 3 days in the fridge, which is great for a quick grab and go meal before you’re out the door to battle the crowds and go shopping. I applaud all of you brave souls that go shopping on Black Friday. Me, I’d much rather shop online at home in my pjs on Cyber Monday.
If you try this let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
Have a great Thanksgiving, Cheers!
Leftover Turkey Quinoa Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 cup dry Quinoa I use Ancient Harvest Brand, if you’re using a different brand then cook according to package directions
- 2 cups Water
- 2 cups cooked leftover Turkey
- 5 oz package of Spinach and Arugula greens
- 1/2 cup chopped Apple Smoked Gouda Cheese
- 1 Honey Crisp Apple cored and chopped into bite size pieces
- 2 Celery stalks chopped into bite size pieces
- 1/4 cup dried Cranberries
For the Cranberry Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup fresh Cranberries rinsed
- 1 Shallot
- 2 Sage Leaves
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Tbs Lime Juice about 1 Lime
- 1 Tbs Honey
- 1/4 tsp ground Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- To make this easier, you can prepare the Quinoa ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make this salad.
- In medium saucepan add 1 cup Quinoa and 2 cups water.
- Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low for 20 minutes.
- Let Quinoa cool before making the salad.
- You can start the Cranberry Vinaigrette while it’s cooling
- Add all ingredients for the Cranberry Vinaigrette to a Food Processor or high speed blender.
- Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Set aside
- In a large salad bowl add Spinach and Arugula greens.
- Add in Quinoa and mix well.
- Add in Turkey, Cheese, Apple, Celery, and Cranberries, mix well.
- Top each salad individually with the Cranberry Vinaigrette, or you can pour all of it over the salad and mix well if serving immediately.
- This serves 4 if eating each salad as a meal, big hearty bowls. Or it could serve up to 8 if having it on the side.
- Enjoy!
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