Quinoa superfood salad

Quinoa superfood salad

quinoa superfood salad bowl

Following a bit of an ice-cream sandwich splurge at the weekend, I’ve decided it’s time for a bit of food penance so today I’m all about ‘oh-so-good-for-you’ quinoa superfood salad.

I happen to love vegetables, so when I say ‘penance’ I don’t really mean it very literally – there is no suffering involved – maybe apart from an occasional sugar craving, which is my big bugbear, I’m the first one to admit.

This ultra green salad is packed with so much fibre (and a whole wealth of other goodness) that keeps me full for ages and significantly reduces my sweet cravings. As you can see, I went for quite a few vegetables here as I’m a very visual eater and wanted as many shades of green as I could get in, but if that sounds like too much effort, feel free to adapt this dish to whatever you happen to have on hand – anything green goes!

quinoa superfood salad side

quinoa superfood salad close up

serves
4
PREP
15 min
COOKING
15 min
serves
4
PREPARATION
15 min
COOKING
15 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • approx. 100 g / 3.5 oz green salad (I used baby spinach and lollo rosso)
  • ½ large avocado, sliced
  • small wedge of red cabbage, shredded thinly
  • small broccoli*, divided into florets
  • ½ cup frozen peas (or fresh if available)
  • small cucumber, sliced
  • ½ cup mung bean sprouts (or other sprouts)
  • 1 zucchini / courgette
  • 1 large spring onion, sliced thinly
  • 10 green Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
  • a handful of mint and basil leaves, chopped finely

DRESSING

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsp lemon or lime juice
  • ½ roasted or raw garlic clove, grated finely
  • 1 tsp chilli paste / a pinch of flakes (optional)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
METHOD
  1. Rinse quinoa and place it in a small pot that you have a glass lid for. Add a few pinches of salt and 1.5 cups of water (prefect quinoa ratio is 1:1.5), cover with a lid and bring to boil. Once the water boils, decrease the heat to low-medium and let the quinoa simmer until all the water has been absorbed. To check, tilt the pot slightly, keeping the lid firmly on. If you see no water seeping out from under the grain, it means you are good to go. Switch off the heat completely and let quinoa sit on a hot hob (with lid firmly on) for another 5 mins to finish off cooking in its own steam. Once ready, cool it down completely before adding it to the salad as otherwise the salad leaves will wilt.
  2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Prepare a bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes and set it next to the stove. Once the water boils, add broccoli florets and frozen peas and cook for about 90 seconds. Once the time is up, drain the vegetables and immediately plunge them into the cold water so that they retain their beautiful colour. Place on a sieve to drain well. Lightly season with salt and pepper before adding to the salad.
  3. Prepare zucchini by either turning it into zoodles (use a speed peeler for wide ribbons) or slicing it and grilling it on a grill pan. If grilling, brush each slice with a bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and arrange on a hot (that’s important) grill / griddle pan. Once the slices are browned on one side, turn them over and let them brown on the other side.
  4. Mix all the dressing ingredients together and set aside.
  5. Just before serving, combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over and scatter spring onions, sprouts and herbs on top.

NOTES
*I blanched my broccoli florets for this salad, but boiling them, steaming, grilling on a griddle pan or dividing into bite-size florets and leaving them raw will work just as well.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
342
17%
sugars
5 g
6%
fats
17 g
24%
saturates
2 g
12%
proteins
10 g
20%
carbs
41 g
16%
*per serving
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5.0
4 reviews, 16 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Dans:
I in my adult age still don’t like green peas lol. Can you recommend another veggie in place of it? Thanks.
    Ania
    Ania:
    How about shelled broad beans or edamame or simply skip them altogether. Hope this helps. Ania
Rochelle:
Love this recipie! Trying to introduce my family to a more plant based way of eating and they all loved this one - thank you for sharing 🙏🏼
    Ania
    Ania:
    I am so happy to hear that Rochelle, thank you! Btw, this recipe is quite old - I since revamped it a little and you may like this new one even more (I do!) x Ania
Gigi:
This salad came out so delicious ! I made a homemade lemon vinaigrette to go with it and seriously could eat it all the time ! Pairs so well together !
    Ania
    Ania:
    That's so nice to hear, Gigi! Thanks for stopping by! x Ania
Angela:
Hi! Looks amazing! Have you tried this cold? I’m thinking of prepping the day before and having it for lunch at work..
thanks!!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Angela,
    Yes, it will absolutely work as a cold salad too. I often make it for batch prep and assemble cold on the day, the only thing I would suggest is not mixing in the dressing until just before serving. Hope that helps! Ania
Kristen:
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. I will surely try this.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Glad to hear that, Kristen! Ania
Jess:
I made the salad pretty much exactly as per your recipe, with the exception of using a whole avocado (but I figured my avo wasn't really 'large', anyway). I zoodled my zucchini rather than grilling it as my kids will only eat zucchini raw. This was an absolutely delicious salad and the ultimate verdict: My veggie-dodger 12-year-old daughter took a second helping and declared this to be her 'favourite salad ever of all the salads'. Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thanks so much, Jess! I am delighted to hear that my salad has converted your daughter ;) Ania
Kathleen:
Hi Ania, how long will this salad keep in the fridge?
    Ania
    Ania:
    I recommend eating it fresh really, but if that's not an option, it will keep for 3 days for sure. Ania
Marc:
Hi Anita - would you mind if I post up my (very very slightly modified) version of your lovely salad? Obviously I'll link back to your page.
Marc
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Marc, assuming that you are talking about taking your own photos too, sure, go ahead. Ania (not Anita ;) )
Janet:
Very a pretty salad! I'm thinking I could prepare some quinoa and add one or two servings of veggies. I'm always cooking for one.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Janet! Sure thing, this salad is very versatile so adapt to your liking! You'll like it :)
Rhian @ Rhian's Recipes:
What a nourishing salad! Thanks for sharing :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    My pleasure and thanks so much for a lovely comment, Rhian! :)
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