Thanksgiving Salad Recipe (2024)

5 from 10 votes

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Author: Adrianne

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

Thanksgiving Salad

• Preheat the oven to180 to 190 C (350–375 F). Line one baking tray with grease-proof paper. Line another with grease-proof paper and a wire rack

  See Also

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• 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

• 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