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quinoa salad

Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn

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When my parents bought property and built a house, they planted fruit trees, berry bushes, constructed a greenhouse and planted rows and rows of potatoes, beans, corn and any vegetable they could fit in and on their 1/4 acre piece of land. If they could grow it in Northern British Columbia they would, or they would sure try.

Since most of this happened in my teen years I was only able to experience a small amount of the bounty since I left home as soon as I graduated, around the age of 17. I moved home for the summer before I departed for Vancouver to try and save a little extra money for University.

Mom would can a lot of the berries and then she got into making home made wine with her large haul of fruit. She was gifted when it came to wine making, quite possibly learned from some of her Portuguese friends and every so often would some to me in Vancouver. Blueberries was one of those berries she used creatively therefore it’s not surprising I like to get creative with berries and fruit when they are in season.

Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad ingredients
Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad ingredients minus the corn (it was being charred)

Quinoa is a grain we like to eat and creating a new quinoa salad to love is almost a part time hobby here. If you are looking to add more quinoa into your diet check out some of our other recipes like the Moroccan Quinoa Salad, Quinoa Burgers or Quinoa Stuffed Peppers.

Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad camping
Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad camping

This recipe came to be one summer following the arrival of BC blueberries and our love for quinoa. Charring the corn and the orange for the dressing adds a smokey touch. It’s a good salad to take camping or to potlucks, just double the batch if needed. People loved it during our camping potlucks.

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Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa cooked and cooled
  • 2 ears of corn, husked
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 package halloumi cheese, sliced thick and grilled
  • ⅓ cup orange juice or one large orange cut in half and charred on grill
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp fresh mint, sliced thin
Instructions
  1. Add quinoa to a large bowl. Set aside.
  2. Rub corn with 1 tablespoon oil and a pinch both of salt and pepper. Grill, turning frequently, until corn is charred and heated through, 10-12 minutes. Remove from grill to cool. When cool enough to handle cut kernels from cobs and transfer to bowl with quinoa.
  3. Cut your grilled halloumi cheese into chunks, toss into bowl.
  4. Add blueberries and lightly stir.
  5. Whisk together orange juice, rice wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over quinoa mixture and lightly toss.
  6. Sprinkle on the fresh mint and serve.

 

 

Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad
Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad

 

Green Apple & Cranberry Quinoa Salad

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Meals during the week have to be quick since the kids have activities. These are the days they come home from school, play with the dog, check their emails, do their homework, eat and go to activities, so dinner has to be easy and fast. By the time they get home it’s bed time. Last night was one of those nights, and unfortunately I had not done any meal prep in advance. Off to the store I went to pick up some quick grill sausages and a few ingredients to make a Quinoa Salad.

Green Apple, Gouda & Cranberry Quinoa
Green Apple, Gouda & Cranberry Quinoa

I tend to make my quinoa a day or two in advance. I like it cool or right out of the fridge vs hot off the stove. I find it fluffs up when it has time to sit and cool off plus it’s available for a quick meal solution. This salad is Gluten Free and can be made dairy free by not adding the cheese.

I’m happy my whole family enjoys quinoa and I no longer feel like I have to put a carb on the table (rice, pasta, potato). Grains are a beautiful & filling thing.

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Green Apple & Cranberry Quinoa Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Salads, dinner, lunch
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 2 green apples, sliced thin
  • ½ cup parsley, chopped
  • 2 tbsp mint, chopped
  • ¼ cup cranberries
  • ½ cup Gouda cheese, cubed
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 5 tbsp pepitas, toasted
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl toss together quinoa, green apple, parsley, mint, cranberries and cheese. Set aside.
  2. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Pour half on salad, toss and taste. Add more dressing if necessary.
  3. To serve top with toasted pepitas.

 

Bok Choy & Quinoa Salad with Tahini Dressing

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It was bound to happen. If you follow my blog you’ll know firstly I love Quinoa and secondly have been a fan of bok choy salads since the early 90’s. It was only a matter of time before these two collided in my kitchen. My kids started really liking salads last year (anything from spinach, arugula to a mixed bag) so I am able to toss some chopped bok choy into their regular salad and they don’t even notice.

I never jumped on the kale bandwagon as I honestly prefer bok choy and have for almost 20 years. It’s got all the good stuff in it, vitamins, fiber, anti-oxidants, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, iron and magnesium. I do eat kale from time to time, but not as much as I eat bok choy.

I’d never had a tahini dressing before but since it includes most of the ingredients that go into making hummus, I decided to give it a try. As I made the dressing I tasted it without the garlic, and then added the garlic, and it went from ok to amazing! I love the addition of fresh garlic in a salad dressing, but make sure others around you are eating it to, if you know what I mean! There were no vampires bothering me that day. If you like hummus you will like this dressing.

If you do not have the Ras de hanout spice just use extra cumin. This is seriously one of my favourite dressings now and I even put some on my baked potato. You could easily add any grilled protein to this dish or any additional vegetables you enjoy.

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Bok Choy & Quinoa Salad with Tahini Dressing
Author: 
Recipe type: lunch, snack, supper, d-tox
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1½ cup bok choy, chopped
  • 2 tbsp pepper (any variety: hot, green, red), chopped
  • ¼ cup red onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
  • 6-8 almonds, rough chopped
Instructions
  1. Toss quinoa through sesame seeds into a bowl and mix. Pour on tahini dressing and stir to combine.
  2. Sprinkle on chopped almonds and enjoy.
Notes
To make dressing: whisk together ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp tahini, ¼ tsp ras de hanout spice, ¼ tsp cumin, pinch of salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, 1 minced garlic clove and ¼ cup water. If it's too thick for your liking, add a little more water. Use up within a day.

 

 

 

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

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If you’ve been following along you’ll know how much I love quinoa salads. And the combinations are endless. Since I don’t eat as much protein as I should, it’s the perfect meal to add additional protein to my diet. For those new to quinoa, it’s a grain packed full of protein and a good one to introduce to the kidlets.

In some of my earlier recipes I advise my preference of cooking a big batch of the quinoa in advance and letting it cool overnight in the fridge. It becomes fluffier once it’s had time to rest. Every day for lunch scoop out 1 cup and use it for your salad. This makes for a new salad every day using the ingredients you like and your favourite dressing. You could also scoop out 1/4 cup of the cooked quinoa and put it in your soup or chili.

Using my special ingredient from The Missing Ingredient Food Subscription Package I received last month, I came up with this Moroccan Quinoa Salad based on some of the flavours had recently at one of the Moroccan Restaurants in Calgary, Sultan’s Tent. Roasted chick peas really turns this salad up a notch. Yes I inhaled it.

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Moroccan Quinoa Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Lunch, Salad, Side
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked
  • ½ cup roasted chick peas
  • ¼ cup dates, chopped
  • ¼ cup dried apricots, dropped
  • ½ cup grated carrot
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup dressing
  • black or toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Take one cup of your cooked quinoa and place in a bowl. Add roasted chick peas, dates, dried apricots, grated carrot, cilantro and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pouring in dressing and toss lightly. Taste for seasoning and if required add more dressing/salt/pepper to your liking.
  2. Finish with a sprinkle of black or toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
Notes
To make dressing whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, ½ lemon (juiced), ¼ tsp Ras de Hanout spice, ¼ tsp cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

 

 

Pomegranate and Orange Quinoa Salad

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This Pomegranate and Orange Quinoa Salad was made for our recent Ladies Halloween Wine Evening. Since it was a theme evening, I named it “blood clot salad with crunchy finger nails“. It was very well recieved and so much fun to make.

It all started with a variation of this salad I’ve been making all year. The dressing always stays the same, as does the main ingredient, oranges. Typically I tend to add some form of greens into it. Parsley, kale, scallions…anything I find in my fridge.

One day last week I was cleaning a pomegranate, with a hovering daughter, and I started thinking about putting pomegranates into the quinoa salad. They are everywhere in the stores and I swear we’ve already gone through half a dozen as my daughter loves them. They certainly are the perfect snack, full of antioxidants and I love how much she enjoys them. While cleaning away, I was having more thoughts about our Halloween evening and what bites I was going to bring. I had already decided on Pumpkin Vomit, made with guacamole, but I wanted a second dish to bring. Just because I’m crazy like that!! For some reason the term “blood clots” came to mind and then the light bulb moment….pomegranates in the salad could be blood clots. I think it could work.

I eat a lot of quinoa salad and always cook the quinoa the day before as I prefer it cooled down for my salad. It becomes very fluffy when you allow it to rest after cooking. The next day I scooped the seeds out of my mini pumpkin and carved it. It was going to by my vomiting pumpkin prop. Since we always roast our pumpkin seeds, I wanted to roast these ones to munch on. I tossed the seeds with oil, salt and cumin but had to turn the oven off and run out to the bus to get my kids mid roast. When I returned the residual heat from the oven had crunchified them a little. Still yummy however and then it came to me, they could be a salad addition of crunchy finger nails. Boom Chaka Laka. We were on a roll.

This is pretty much how this salad came to be. Started with the usual suspects, didn’t have any parsley so I used some of the bok choy greens in my fridge, roasted some pine nuts and tossed it all together.

This is enough for one serving. Double and triple if you are wanting to feed 4 or more and have leftovers for lunch.

 

Blood Clot Salad with Crunchy Finger Nails
Blood Clot Salad with Crunchy Finger Nails

 

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Pomegranate and Orange Quinoa Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: salad, main, dinner, lunch, appetizer,
Serves: 1
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked
  • ⅓ cup orange segments (one orange), cut up
  • 1 tsp mint, (heaping) chopped
  • 2 tsp pine nuts, roasted
  • 2 tbsp bok choy greens, chopped (or parsley)
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roasted
  • 1 tbsp juice from orange
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Place first seven ingredients in a bowl and toss lightly.
  2. In a jar or measuring cup add orange juice, vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk together and pour over salad.
  3. Toss to mix in dressing and taste for seasoning. Add another pinch of salt and pepper as required.
  4. Serve with another sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds on top.
  5. This salad can be made a couple hours in advance and left to sit in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
You will end up with more dressing than you need. Pour some on and toss. Taste and decide if you need to add more or not. Leftover dressing can be used to coat roasted potatoes, in a pasta salad or used in a green salad.

 

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

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Day 4 of Quinoa Lunches will be my rendition of a Mediterranean Quinoa Salad consisting of what I could find in my pantry/fridge.  I love so many of these flavours I ended up adding quite a few items.  Add what you like.  Any kind of bean would be yummy as would roasted eggplant.

Having your quinoa precooked and in the fridge makes whipping up a salad easy.  1 batch of cooked quinoa (as I noted in my Thai Inspired Quinoa Salad) makes 3 cups which is good enough for 3 salads.  I made up a dressing for this salad or you can use olive oil.  Or buy your favourite Greek Dressing.

Thursday’s Lunch…..

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Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner, Side
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
  • ¼ cup cucumber, chopped
  • ¼ cup kalamata olives, halved & pitted
  • ½ cup chick peas
  • ½ cup artichoke hearts, chopped
  • ½ cup tomatoes, chopped
  • ¼ spanish onion, chopped
  • ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • olive oil
  • red wine vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • salt & pepper
  • dried oregano
Instructions
  1. Take one cup of your cooked quinoa and place in a bowl. Add sundried tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, chick peas, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, spanish onion and feta cheese.
  2. Pouring in dressing and toss lightly. Taste for seasoning and if required add more dressing/salt/pepper to your liking.
Notes
To make dressing whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, ⅛ cup red wine vinegar, pinch of dried oregano, pinch of salt & pepper, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp dijon mustard.

 

 

Turkey Curry Quinoa Salad

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Day 3 of creating new Quinoa Salads for lunch, and there’s still leftover turkey in the fridge. Last month I made a tasty sandwich I called the Curry Chicken Sandwich and so I decided to turn this sandwich into a salad, the Turkey Curry Quinoa Salad.

For this salad I tried two different dressings, Blue Menu Pineapple Curry and a home made curry dressing, much like the one used to make the Curry Chicken Sandwich. Whatever dressing you decide on, as long as it has curry, it will be perfect.

Adding cilantro, if you like it, would give this quinoa a touch of freshness.

Tip: Keep a jar of curry paste in your fridge and you can be whipping up Curry in a Hurry whenever the urge hits. Remember to swap chicken for turkey if that’s what you have on hand.

Double the protein, double the deliciousness and this is Wednesday’s lunch.

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Turkey Curry Quinoa Salad
Recipe type: Lunch, Side, Dinner
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup cooked turkey, chopped
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • ½ cup granny smith green apple, chopped
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • ½ cup grapes, halved
  • 1 tbsp thompson raisins
  • 2-3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp your favourite curry dressing or the homemade version
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. Pour 1 tsp of olive oil into a saucepan. Over medium heat add in chopped turkey and a sprinkle of garam masala. Saute until turkey & spices have become happy and warmed through (a few minutes).
  2. Take one cup of your cooked quinoa and place in a bowl. Add cooked turkey, green apple, green onion, grapes, raisins and parsley. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper. Add your dressing and toss lightly. Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary.
Notes
To make dressing whisk together ½ cup greek yogurt,1 tsp mayonnaise, 1-2 tsp curry paste, ½ lime juice (fresh), pinch salt & pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil. Whisk together. If you prefer a looser dressing add in another glug of olive oil mixing well to combine.

 

Leftover Turkey Quinoa Salad

1 · · 2 Comments

Last night I roasted a Turkey Breast. Love turkey or chicken since there is so much you can do with leftovers. As I started thinking about my next Quinoa lunch, inspiration hit…or rather was staring at me as I opened the fridge door. Turkey. Right then & there I decided to do a spin on a leftover holiday turkey dinner and make it into a Leftover Turkey Quinoa Salad.

Turkey dinner, albeit at Christmas or Thanksgiving (or even Easter for some), has different food meanings/memories for everyone. Hubs, myself and the kids tend to always have some form of a roasted veggie medley that includes squash & brussels sprouts with our turkey dinner. Cranberries, nuts in stuffing…it all finds it’s way onto our plates with our holiday turkey dinners.

Fortunately I had some of the items in my fridge to help my idea come to fruition. I did not create a vinaigrette for this salad as I felt the flavours in it were strong enough to stand on their own. I did however drizzle on some olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon as well as season with salt & pepper.

You can swap chicken for turkey if that’s what you have.

Here comes Tuesday’s lunch….

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Leftover Turkey Quinoa Salad
Recipe type: Salad, Lunch, Dinner, Side
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup cooked turkey, chopped
  • 1-2 tsp favourite spices *
  • 2 fresh brussels sprouts, cleaned, halved & sliced thin
  • ½ cup roasted squash, cubed
  • 1 green onion, sliced
  • ⅓ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 tbsp toasted pecans, rough chop
  • ¼ cup parsley, chopped
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Pour 1 tsp of olive oil into a saucepan. Over medium heat add in chopped turkey and a sprinkle of your favourite spices (I use Mrs. Dash as well as others). Saute until turkey & spices have become happy and warmed through (a few minutes).
  2. Take one cup of your cooked quinoa and place in a bowl.
  3. Add brussels sprouts, green onion, dried cranberries, pecans, parsley, salt & pepper and about 1 tbsp olive oil. Stir to combine. Add in squash and toss lightly. Taste for seasoning and if required add another pinch salt & pepper.
  4. To serve sprinkle with toasted pecans, another drizzle of olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

 

Thai Inspired Quinoa Salad

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I guess you could say I’m on a Quinoa kick this week.  My goal is to make 5 quinoa salads for lunch, a new one each day.  This inspiration comes from questions I get regarding grains and “what do you do with quinoa”.  I’m far from an expert but I cook with them and want to show you how easy it is to make a quick and nutritious salad.  Grains have been a part of my diet for the past 20 years and since having kids I cook with them more and more hoping one day my kids will learn to like them.

A confessed Thai food lover, this salad is a Thai Inspired Quinoa Salad using whatever “Thai” ingredients I could find in my fridge.  If I had them on hand I would have also added some fresh bean sprouts, finely chopped red chili pepper and mango.  The flavours in this salad are bold and it turned out delicious.

Cook your quinoa according to package directions or remember 2 cups liquid to 1 cup quinoa in a pot and bring to a boil.  Cover & simmer 10-15 minutes or until liquid absorbed.  Fluff and let cool down in pot for your salad(s).  This makes 3 cups.

I buy the organic, gluten free Quinoa from Costco so important to note this recipe is gluten free.

Tip: If you are on a gluten free diet, always check labels on products you buy.  The Fish Sauce I used is also safe & gluten free, but not all are.  This stands true for any product you buy.

Happy to share with you Monday’s Lunch.

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Thai Inspired Quinoa Salad
Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner, Side
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • ½ cup carrots, grated
  • ½ cup cucumber, sliced into strips or chopped
  • ½ cup cilantro (or parsley), chopped (save a pinch for dressing)
  • 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped (save a pinch for dressing)
  • Toasted sesame seeds/slivered almonds
  • ¼ cup Dressing (below)
Instructions
  1. Take one cup of your cooked quinoa and place in a bowl. Add green onions, carrots, cucumber, cilantro and mint. Pouring in dressing and toss lightly. Taste for seasoning and if required add more dressing/salt/pepper to your liking.
  2. To serve sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and/or slivered almonds.
Notes
To make dressing whisk together 1 tsp sesame oil, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp fish sauce, ½ tsp honey, pinch salt & pepper, pinch sliced mint, pinch sliced cilantro, about ⅛-1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, between ⅓ & ½ cup olive oil and a couple dashes sriracha sauce (or more if you like it spicy).

 

Quinoa Cucumber & Mint Salad

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Quinoa Cucumber & Mint Salad is a simple to make anytime of the year.  So impressed was I that hubby really enjoyed this salad. So much so he took it for lunch today. Now if only I could get the kidlets to enjoy quinoa since it is a complete protein and good for you. Here’s hoping one day!

This is a quick-lunch, side dish or even meal for one. Add some roasted/grilled chicken if you wish or it as is. Yum.

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Quinoa, Cucumber & Mint Salad
Recipe type: Dinner, Food For One, Lunch, Quick Meals, Salads, Simple, Vegetarian
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup cucumber, quartered and sliced
  • 3-4 green onions, sliced
  • ⅓ cup packed fresh parsley, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Add water quinoa and salt to pot, bring to a boil. Reduce, cover and simmer until water has been absorbed and quinoa tender (about 12-15 minutes). Scoop into a bowl and set aside to cool.
  2. In a cup, or small bowl whisk together vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Pour it on quinoa and add cucumber, green onions, parsley & mint. Mix well. Adjust seasonings as needed. Pairs nicely with grilled meat.