toasted quinoa salad

This Actually Good Quinoa Salad is no ordinary quinoa salad. Featuring toasted quinoa tossed with marinated chickpeas and seasonal vegetables, it’s a textural feat with layers of complex, mouth-watering flavors! It’s still quick and easy to make, and perfect for lunches, weeknight dinners, picnics, and potlucks.

Actually Good Quinoa Salad

(180 grams) uncooked quinoa

extra virgin olive oil, (divided)

Spring: asparagus, snap peas, fennel (early spring)

Summer: sweet cherry/grape tomatoes, (halved)

Fall: any winter squash

broccoli sprouts

(15-ounce 425 grams) can chickpeas, (drained and rinsed)

pomegranate molasses ((or aged balsamic vinegar, see Note 2))

garlic cloves, (crushed

salt

black pepper

red pepper flake ((optional

(70 grams) roasted almonds

(60 grams) vegan feta, (crumbled)

Something pickled, onions

sweet cherry tomatoes, (halved or quartered)

Bring 1 ¼ cups of water (300 mL) to a boil. Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve under cool running water.

Once the water is boiling, add the rinsed quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the liquid has evaporated and quinoa is tender, about 12 minutes. Open the pot and fluff with a fork. Transfer quinoa to a sheet pan and spread out in an even layer. Allow to cool somewhat.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF/218ºC. Arrange a rack in the bottommost and in the top third of the oven.

Meanwhile, slice your vegetables (see Note 1).

Spread the vegetables out on a sheet pan in a single layer as much as possible. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.a. If the quinoa is not done yet, start on the chickpeas (step 8).

To the cooked quinoa on the other sheet pan, toss with 1 ½ tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Mix with your hands to coat. Spread out with as little overlap as possible.

Roast the quinoa and veggies: Transfer the vegetables to the bottom rack and quinoa to the upper rack. After 15 minutes, toss the quinoa (no need to toss veggies). Continue baking, checking the quinoa every 5 minutes until the quinoa is crispy and golden brown in spots and the vegetables are tender and browned in spots (they both should take about 25 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, shallot, 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons juice, pomegranate molasses, herbs, garlic, salt, pepper to taste, and red pepper flakes if using. Toss well and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes or longer. Toss a few times.

Add the roasted vegetables, toasted quinoa, and toasted nuts to the marinated chickpeas. Gently toss. Crumble in the feta if using and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, squeeze a little lemon juice on top if you have leftover lemon from the marinated chickpeas.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/5SQm7TM1.mp4

This is no ordinary quinoa salad. Featuring toasted quinoa tossed with marinated chickpeas and seasonal vegetables, it’s a textural feat with layers of complex, mouth-watering flavors! It’s still quick and easy to make, and perfect for lunches, weeknight dinners, picnics, and potlucks.

Quinoa Salad

This Garlic Sage Toasted Quinoa Salad is layered with fall flavor from the roasted veggies to the creamy apple butter tahini dressing. Great to meal prep ahead to make adding veggies to your plate during the week a lot easier and tastier. 

Garlic Sage Toasted Quinoa Salad

Avocado oil

dry quinoa

lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced

shallots, sliced

garlic powder

onion powder

dry thyme

tsp fennel seeds, optional

sage

garlic

raw pepitas

leaves of kale, stems removed and finely chopped

tsp extra virgin olive oil

lemon

pomegranate seeds

tahini

apple butter

tsp dijon mustard

garlic, grated

syrup,

water

Preheat the oven to 425F. Prep and cook the quinoa according to package instructions then set aside to cool.

To a lined sheet pan, add the brussels sprouts and shallots then top with the garlic powder, onion powder, fennel seeds, thyme and a generous pinch of salt. Drizzle the tray with about 1 tablespoon or more of oil then toss well to coat. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the edges look crispy, giving the tray a toss halfway.

Add a drizzle of oil to a sauté pan (I used about a little more than a tablespoon) and place over medium low heat. When the oil is hot, add the sage and fry in the oil for about 1-2 minutes. Transfer the sage to a paper towel to drain, then in the same pan add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.

To the pan, add the quinoa and pepitas along with a generous pinch of salt then stir to combine. Continue to sauté the mixture occasionally for 4-6 minutes until some of the quinoa starts to brown then remove from heat. Crush up the sage leaves into small pieces then stir them into the quinoa mixture. Adjust salt to taste then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the chopped kale along with the zest of one lemon, juice of half a lemon, extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage the ingredients into the kale until the kale has shrunk in size and softened.

Make the dressing by adding the tahini, apple butter, mustard, maple syrup, juice from the remaining lemon half and a generous pinch of salt. Whisk to combine and thicken then add the water and whisk again until smooth. If too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time while whisking until your desired consistency is reached.

To assemble, add the kale and quinoa to the tray of brussels sprouts along with half the dressing and toss together to combine with tongs. Portion out a serving of the salad and top with more dressing if desired and some pomegranate seeds then enjoy.

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Garlic Sage Toasted Quinoa Salad

Top 2 toasted quinoa salad recipes from across the web

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Actually Good Quinoa Salad

Garlic Sage Toasted Quinoa Salad

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