I LOVE a good quinoa salad for many reasons….
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It’s easy to make
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You can put about any vegetables you have in the fridge in it
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There is no set way to make it, so as long as you follow the formula you’re good – I haven’t made a bad one yet!
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You can eat it as a side dish OR as a meatless light dinner
The formula is simple too. Here it is:
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Start with 1 cup dry quinoa & cook it with 2 cups water or broth
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Chop up vegetables on hand or use roasted/sautéd vegetables from the night before or a combination
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Add whatever fresh herb you have on hand
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Dress with lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper
That’s it! As long as you have quinoa on hand, you can usually make quinoa salad.
Here’s my winter version with roasted vegetables…
1 cup (or more) roasted butternut squash
1 cup (or more) roasted cauliflower
1 cup (or more) roasted brussel sprouts
Cooked Quinoa – about 2 1/2 cups
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
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If you haven’t roasted the vegetables yet, start by roasting them. Links to those recipes are above. You could probably even roast them all in the same pan. My recommendation however is to roast them the day or days before for another meal & use the leftovers for this salad.
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Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. It should take around 10 minutes. Please note you can serve this salad hot or cold. I tend to serve it hot/warm in the winter & cold in the summer.
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Once the quinoa is done, just make sure all your roasted vegetables are cut up into bite-size pieces, mix everything together &….
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Enjoy!