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Vegetable Quinoa Salad
This fresh Vegetable Quinoa Salad is so easy to make and it’s perfect either as a light lunch or as a side dish served with grilled chicken or salmon. I love the touch of honey lime dressing, but it would be easy to swap the lime for lemon or even orange juice.
In this recipe for Vegetable Quinoa Salad, I use an English cucumber because it has few seeds and the seeds it does have are typically very small. But, if you have a regular supermarket cucumber, that would work great too, just try to remove some of the big seeds. The recipe calls for orange and yellow bell peppers, mostly just because they add a nice touch of color to the salad, but you can certainly use whatever bell peppers you can find at your market.
What You’ll Need for Vegetable Quinoa Salad
- water
- quinoa
- fresh baby spinach
- cherry tomatoes
- English cucumber
- orange bell pepper
- yellow bell pepper
- green onions
- lime juice, freshly squeezed
- lime zest
- extra virgin olive oil
- honey
- grated ginger
- salt
What is Quinoa?
Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a highly nutritious whole grain that’s quick and easy to cook. This superfood is not only packed with nutrients, it also high in protein and fiber. A great choice for anyone who wants to lose weight or focus on healthy eating.
Quinoa is available in black, white, and red grains. I prefer to use a tri-colored quinoa, which is what I use in this Vegetable Quinoa Salad. Each color has it’s own unique flavor, but the blend of the tri-color (paid link) looks nice and has a wonderful flavor.
To cook: rinse 1 cup quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Add 2 cups of water to a medium saucepan, stir in rinsed quinoa and bring to a boil. Cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. Simmer quinoa until all the water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Make it Vegan
Vegetable Quinoa Salad is naturally vegetarian. The only substitution that would be necessary to make this salad vegan is a simple substitution of agave for the honey. Keep in mind that agave is a bit sweeter than honey, but this recipe calls for very little, so it’s not really going to make a big difference. Of course, if you prefer, just use a tad less than 2 Tbsp. agave in place of the honey.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced, chiffonade
- 1-1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 English cucumber, chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 4 Tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed, 1/4 cup
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- 1-1/2 Tbsp. lime zest
- 1 Tbsp. ginger, fresh, grated
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, combine water and rinsed quinoa. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with fork. Transfer cooked quinoa to a large bowl and let cool completely.
- Add spinach, tomato, English cucumber, bell peppers, and green onion to the cooled quinoa.
Dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk to combine, lime juice, olive oil, honey, lime zest, grated ginger, and salt.
- Drizzle dressing over quinoa and vegetables; toss to coat evenly. Chill before serving.
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