This buckwheat salad with spiced roasted cauliflower and butternut squash makes a healthy tasty meal. It's easy to adapt and a great way to use up any grain that's been sitting in your cupboard for too long!
I am feeling as if I've been making and eating far too many sweet recipes lately. I've been experimenting with lots of sweet treats but it has left me feeling like I need a bit of health reboot.
Sound familiar? Well if so, I have the answer for you. It's time to dig out one of those bags of healthy grains hiding at the back of the cupboard. Time to see what vegetables are in the fridge and time to put it all together to make a healthy filling meal.
That is exactly what I've done when creating this buckwheat salad with roasted vegetables.
A great way to use store cupboard ingredients
When I created this buckwheat salad recipe I was challenging myself to create a recipe without going out to buy anything.
Well, I always have ingredients like tinned tomatoes, beans and chickpeas at home as well as lots of spices and with those ingredients it's easy to create a simple tasty meal even if you haven't been to the shops.
However, I decided to dig deeper. I delved right to the back of my cupboard and pulled out a bag of buckwheat. I knew it was there. I'd been meaning to make something with it for months. Well, years actually!
Don't worry about best before dates on grains!
You see, I'm going to tell you a secret now. A secret that you must keep to yourself otherwise no one will dare eat my food ever again. Shhhhh. This bag of buckwheat was so old it had a best before date of December 2009! Ooops. It may be time to buy a new bag.
Despite its lengthy stay in my cupboard, the buckwheat salad turned out to be rather tasty. The lemon and sumac dressing on the buckwheat gave it some freshness, along with the dill of course. The roasted vegetables with ras el hanout gave it some sweetness and spice.
Can you adapt the buckwheat salad?
Of course, the challenge was to use ingredients that I had at home. I could have used a different grain. Couscous, pearly barley, spelt or bulgur wheat would all have been tasty substitutions.
I could have used different vegetables. How about peppers, aubergines or courgettes?
I could have used different spices. A simple blend of cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cumin and coriander would have worked well.
I could also have used different herbs. If I'd been buying ingredients to make this salad I would have bought some fresh coriander (cilantro). I wasn't sure if the dill would work but it was the only fresh herb I had and it actually went quite well.
I added some Cheshire cheese which is a mild crumbly cheese. It would also have been lovely with feta or grilled halloumi. If I'd wanted to make a vegan buckwheat salad I could have roasted some chickpeas like I did when I made these tacos.
The thing to remember is that a recipe is just a guide. And now, having made this rather tasty buckwheat salad, feel free to remake it any way you want. And if you have a similar bag of grain lurking somewhere at home, don't be afraid to use it!
Can you make this buckwheat salad in advance?
This healthy buckwheat salad is a great recipe for preparing in advance. I often make it earlier in the day then just keep it in the fridge until we are ready to eat it. The leftovers are ideal for lunch boxes or summer picnics. You can keep it for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Recipe
Buckwheat Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients
- 100 g buckwheat
- ½ cauliflower cut into florets
- ½ butternut squash cubed
- ½ teaspoon ras el hanout
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 40 g crumbly white cheese I used Cheshire
- 1 tablespoon dill or another fresh herb
For the dressing
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Put the buckwheat in a saucepan and bring to the boil then simmer for no longer than 10 minutes.
- Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Toss the cauliflower and butternut squash with the ras el hanout and olive oil. Place on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes at 180°C until cooked and slightly charred.
- Mix up the ingredients for the dressing and stir into the buckwheat.
- Assemble the salad by putting some buckwheat on each plate. Then some roasted vegetables. Crumble the cheese and scatter a few herbs on top.
Notes
Nutrition
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Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make this buckwheat salad. I love to get feedback from readers.
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Sarah Newman
This sounds so great! Big buckwheat fan over here, but I forget about it so often! Love it's nutty, earthy taste, so it must pair well with the squash and sumac! <3
Corina
Yes, it's great with the squash and sumac! It's also something I tend to forget about but I try to use it in recipes I'm going to eat at lunchtime as my husband is not so keen. This is the type of salad I can make a big batch of then eat up over a few days.
Michelle - Hold the Moo
What a great recipe! I love roasted veggies and sumuc. Obviously together they must be ace. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Corina
They are amazing together! I love these type of flavours and it's easy to make too.
Lisa
It's been a long time since I have enjoyed buckwheat. Now I have a craving. Thanks for sharing with NCR. The roundup will be appearing soon.
Corina
Thanks Lisa! I plan to make quite a few more recipes with buckwheat now. I'll look forward to the round up!
Katie Bryson
I'm terrible for hoarding bags of random ingredients at the back of my store cupboard, so you've inspired me to have a root around and see what I can find to inspire this week's menu plan. Your salad looks absolutely lovely and the perfect antidote to all of the Easter chocolate that's about to enter the house... Thanks for hooking up with this month's round of Simple and in Season.
Corina
Thanks Katie! I'm trying to hold off on the chocolate as long as possible but I think it's going to be difficult now during the holidays!
Nico @ yumsome
I love buckwheat.... and it's so cheap here too - probably because it's a staple! It really makes a great alternative to quinoa or bulgur, doesn't it? We have pumpkin seed oil here too, which I think would go really well in this salad. Oh, and I love that you've used roast veggies too - how perfect! 🙂
Corina
It is definitely a great alternative to other grains and I would love to try pumpkin seed oil too. I don't think I've ever come across it but I imagine it's got a lovely nuttiness to it. So pleased you like the salad x
Midge
Ooh I am always looking for recipes to use Buckwheat and this looks lovely!
Corina
Thank you! It's so easy too!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com
Oh yes please! This is so, so, so up my street! Love all these flavours and in combination I bet they must be amazing!! Thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Corina
So pleased you like it! I can't believe I haven't tried buckwheat again until now even though I've seen so many recipes online using it, including lots of yours. x
Kate - gluten free alchemist
I love Buckwheat! I love roasted veg! This salad looks so delicious and vibrant. Yum x
Corina
Aw thank you! It was really tasty and I am now a buckwheat convert! x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
Yum, yum, yum!!! Love this dish Corina, I love roasted vegetables, they have so much more flavour when roasted. This is definitely going on my to try list! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare and #SimplySeasonal x
Corina
So pleased you like it! I'm a big fan of roasted vegetables too and often just do a trayful for lunches like this x
Joanna Baker
I love the colours in this salad! Being on a low FODMAP diet to manage my IBS, I don't tolerate cauliflower well, do you think I could swap it for broccoli instead?
Corina
I'm sure broccoli would be fine as a replacement. I made this salad to use up things that were in my cupboard and fridge so the ingredients can easily be swapped for whatever you have at home.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
I know all about the diet reboot - as we're going through one right now -- no carbs for the next two weeks. I'm having withdrawals and this looks like just the thing.... two more weeks!
Corina
Good luck with your diet reboot! It's hard when there's Easter on the horizon but I definitely feel healthier when I eat something like this!
Katherine
This buckwheat salad looks so fresh and full of great flavours!
Corina
Thanks Katherine! It was a really tasty meal and I was pleased to discover a liking for buckwheat!
Mary
I love the challenge of cooking with what you have on hand! It's how I cook a lot of the time--certainly inspires creativity! This buckwheat salad looks lovely!
Corina
Yes, it is a good way to cook and my cupboards do need a good clear out so I really should do it more often now!
Cricket Plunkett
I don't like most salads, but I'm a sucker for grain salads! They are so much more filling, this one looks incredible!
Corina
I'm so pleased you like it! I love adding grains to a salad as they do help fill you up for longer.
Platter Talk
Roasted cauliflower is one of my very favorite veggies! I bet the buckwheat gives this salad a great crunch factor and extra flavor.
Corina
Roasted cauliflower is one of my favourites too! It's funny though as I used to hate it until a couple of years ago as I'd only ever had boiled cauliflower until then!
Monika Dabrowski
This salad looks great! I use 'expired' ingredients all the time, most of the time they are not actually expired, the label just wants us to believe they are:)
Corina
Exactly Monika! And I'm so pleased you like the salad.
Autumn @ AutumnPTW.com
Oh I love everything about this recipe. It looks so delish! Love it!
Corina
Thanks Autumn!
Serena
Been wanting to try buckwheat - but a little afraid it might be too bitter for my family. But I know they'd love all these flavors - so I will try!
Corina
It's definitely worth trying. My little boy, who's nearly 3, was happy to eat the buckwheat that was stuck to the vegetables but didn't like it when he tried a spoonful by itself!
Nico @ yumsome
Buckwheat's not at all bitter, Serena - it's very mild... bland almost. At least, the buckwheat we have here is - I don't know about in other parts of the world!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh this sounds so good Corina! We've just tried roasted cauliflower for the first time just last week and absolutely loved it, so I can just imagine how yummy your salad must be. I know just what you mean about having certain foods in the cupboard for far too long too. It reminds me of an instance when our neighbour was taking her children to school but she needed to take some foods for Harvest Festival too and she's forgotten so asked if we had something spare (which she'd replace). I gave her a bag of pasta and just as I was handing it over to her I noticed the best before date was about 6 months earlier! Oops! Not sure if the neighbour noticed or not, hopefully not, .....but it's just a guide, anyway 😉
Angela x
Corina
Haha I'm sure the neighbour never noticed and probably was happy to at least have something to take! I am quite relaxed about best before dates and think things like grains and pasta probably last for years anyway. I certainly couldn't tell the buckwheat was over 8 years old anyway!