Light yet satisfying, grain salads are the perfect meal to eat while recovering from a month of heavy holiday food. They are also very adaptable, incorporating the hardy vegetables and warm flavors of winter as easily as the bright, fresh flavors of summer. These eight recipes mix whole grains like farro, brown rice and quinoa with the fruit and vegetable stars of winter, including Cara Cara oranges, maple roasted acorn squash and golden beets.

• 1 Radicchio, Cara Cara Orange and Quinoa Salad (pictured) at The Year in Food
• 2 Warm Farro & Mustard Green Salad with Maple Roasted Acorn Squash, Feta and Walnuts at La Buena Vida
• 3 Short Grain Brown Rice Salad with Apples, Pomegranate Seeds and Pine Nuts at Food & Wine
• 4 Warming Winter Wheat Berry Salad at My New Roots

• 5 Roasted Carrot & Wild Rice Salad (pictured) at Greens & Seeds
• 6 Barley and Kale Salad with Golden Beets and Feta at Bon Appetit
• 7 Roasted Sweet Potato, Spinach and Grain Salad at Naturally Ella
• 8 Quinoa Salad with Butternut Squash, Dried Cranberries & Pepitas at Two Peas and Their Pod

Do you have any favorite winter grain salad combinations?

Related: 12 Hearty, Healthy & Colorful Salads to Brighten Your Winter Lunch

(Images, used by permission: Kimberley Hasselbrink/The Year in Food; Elizabeth Allen/Greens & Seeds)