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Eat quinoa salad. Love quinoa salad. Create quinoa salad. Eat quinoa salad until, please, no more quinoa salad.
Lose quinoa salad recipe.
Crave quinoa salad. Flip page after drawer after binder. Where? Measurements lost for over five years. One day, a three hole punched page with pink pen stares back, “Quinoa Salad.”
Life’s interesting. When the time is right— things, people, recipes—may come back.
Fork fluffed quinoa meets fresh lemon, spices and an entourage of vegetables. Stir crushed almonds, refrigerate a little, find a cozy spot and savor by the spoon.
How to Make Crave-worthy Quinoa Salad
Gather Ingredients
fluffy quinoa – fresh lemon juice – olive oil – salt – lemon pepper – black pepper – ground cumin – minced garlic – peas – diced red bell pepper – chopped cilantro – cucumber – crushed almonds
Make Quinoa
Boil water and rinsed quinoa in a medium saucepan, cover, then simmer until almost all water is absorbed (sea level – about fifteen minutes. High altitude – about twenty). Remove from the burner. While tempting, keep the lid tight for the next five minutes. If you crack, the quinoa isn’t lost. After five, fluff with a fork and cool.
Whisk
Add lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, spices, and salt. Whisk until all’s pretty much one. If preferred, these ingredients can be shaken in a mason jar; shake it good.
All Together Now
To a big bowl, add fluffed quinoa then drizzle dressing. Using a fork or spatula, stir with a light hand.
Taste
Every bite of this quinoa salad’s to our taste, but this recipe’s no longer ours alone, so taste and adjust until the salad speaks you.
And there lies the beauty in sharing recipes <3
Preference
Do you prefer quinoa salad chilled or room temperature?
Lemon Vegetable Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:
Quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quinoa
Dressing
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 clove garlic minced
Vegetables & Almonds
- 1 cup green peas frozen and thawed
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper - diced
- 1/2 cup cucumber - scooped and diced
- 1/2 cup cilantro - chopped
- 1/2 cup almonds - chopped, crushed
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve or colander. In a medium saucepan, bring water and quinoa to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until almost all liquid has absorbed—about 15 (20 at high altitude) minutes. Remove pot from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Open and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, lemon and black pepper, salt, cumin and garlic; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, peas, bell pepper, cucumber, cilantro and crushed almonds. Add lemon mixture and with a light hand, stir to combine.
- Taste. Season. Eat or chill then eat.
Notes
- If quinoa salad is refrigerated for long or overnight, let come to room temperature for at least five minutes, as olive oil solidifies.
Nutrition
That looks wonderful.
Thank you Dixie. The salad’s fresh, fluffy, and flavorful. I wish you were in your chair, me on the couch, bowls in hand ♥️