Much like salads with traditional mixed green lettuces, quinoa salad on its own is a culinary blank canvas. The grainlike seeds impart a flavor all their own — subtle nuttiness — but they pair well with countless other tastes, textures and ingredients, and you can dress them up or down depending on what ingredients you happen to have on hand. Bonus: Quinoa is filling, since it's full of protein, which means that you can skip the meat and still feel satisfied.

Just in time for the season, this top-rated recipe for Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash brings together classic fall flavors like squash and cranberries with a base of fluffy, chewy-crunchy quinoa. After a quick roast in the oven, thyme-laced butternut squash turns tender and sweet, and gets tossed with vibrant spinach to bulk up the dish. Mix in crunchy pistachios and crimson dried cranberries for both flavor and texture.

Get the Recipe: Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash

Meatless Monday, an international movement, encourages people everywhere to cut meat one day a week for personal and planetary health. Browse more Meatless Monday recipes.