Nutty Quinoa Salad
People often ask me where I get the inspiration from for my recipes
You may be surprised to learn that the inspiration for this salad came from the deli-counter in Woolworths
I was!
Admittedly it was also influenced by what veggies I had in my fridge
There is lots to love about this salad including the tangy lemon dressing, the fragrant flavour from the fresh herbs, the crisp texture from the raw vegetables, but my favourite bit is the delicious crunch from all those seeds and nuts!
The weather in Sydney has thankfully cooled down a bit lately, but it’s still too hot to cook very much
And beautiful fresh, quick to make, crunchy salads like this are exactly what my body is asking for
I hope yours is too!
Enjoy 🙂
- ½ cup quinoa (any colour will work)
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced or a small red onion, finely diced
- 1 small red capsicum, finely diced
- 2 cups kale, shredded
- 2 medium carrots, grated (approx 1½ cups)
- ½ bunch coriander, chopped
- ½ bunch mint, chopped
- ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds, toasted
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
- ¼ cup almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- ¼ cup cashews, toasted and roughly chopped
- pomegranate seeds for garnish, optional
- Dressing:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon salt
- Start by cooking quinoa. Place in a saucepan, cover generously with cold water.
- Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until soft.
- Note - if using black quinoa, it could take up to 20 minutes to cook.
- Drain well and set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare all of the veggies, herbs, nuts and seeds for your salad.
- To make the dressing - add olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic and salt to a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Shake well to combine.
- When the quinoa is cooked and cooled slightly, add the dressing and stir through.
- Add onions, capsicum, kale, carrot and herbs and stir to combine.
- Just before serving, add the seeds and nuts and stir through.
- Then top with pomegranate seeds if using.
- Enjoy 🙂
1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa expands to approx 1 1/2 cups when cooked.
Although technically a seed, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah, not quin-oh-a!) is commonly referred to and used as a grain.
It comes in 3 different colours – white, red or black. You can also often get a combination of all three.
It is popular due to it being gluten free and relatively quick and easy to cook.
If you are not avoiding gluten, you can replace quinoa in this recipe with barley.
To make this salad FODMAP friendly, use maple syrup in place of honey, omit the garlic, use the green tips only of the spring onions or swap out for chives and swap the cashews for another type of nut.
For a vegan version use maple syrup in place of honey
