I don’t know about you but I love quinoa. I think it is so delicious and such a hearty grain, and it’s so versatile. I’ve added it to several dishes and seasoned it in so many ways and it always comes out delicious.
Today we are talking about a quinoa salad. I almost didn’t make this salad, honestly because I just didn’t feel like cooking, but boy am I glad I did! This salad is so hearty but very lite at the same time. I’m attributing that to the orange dressing. Citrus, in my opinion, makes anything taste lite and summery. I knew exactly what I wanted to put in my salad but I was a little stumped on the dressing. Until I saw that orange sitting in my fruit bowl.
Now let me warn you before you jump into this recipe. This was a huge salad. When I say huge I mean HUGE! You may want to cut the recipe down the first time you make this just to make sure you like it so you’re not throwing away a huge bowl of food.
This quinoa salad is so easy to make and takes no time at all. Here’s how I made it.
I cooked two cups of my favorite quinoa according to the package directions. While that was cooking I diced my onion and got that sautéing in a little olive oil over medium heat. In a large bowl I tossed in the frozen edamame, frozen peas and frozen corn. Side note. I didn’t bother defrosting the vegetables, they defrosted with the heat of the quinoa and I didn’t serve the salad right away. If you are going to serve this right away I would defrost the frozen vegetables before tossing them into the bowl. On top of the veggies I added 5 ounces of baby kale.
Easy so far right? I told you it would be. The dressing is just as easy. In a separate bowl I tossed in the orange zest and the orange juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, agave nectar and salt and pepper. Whisked and set aside.
Once the onions were done I added them to the bowl with the vegetables and the heat of the onions started to wilt the kale. After that I tossed in the quinoa, chives and basil, pour over the dressing and gave it a big mix.
- 2 cups quinoa
- 5 ounces baby kale
- 1/2 c frozen edamame
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 large onion
- 4 tbsp. chives
- 1/2 cup chopped basil
- Juice and zest of half a large naval orange
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp. agave nectar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.
- 2. Dice the onion and sauté in olive oil on medium heat for about 15 minutes.
- 3. In a large bowl add the edamame, peas, corn and baby kale. Set aside
- 4. In a separate bowl combine the orange zest, orange juice, red wine vinegar, agave nectar, salt and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.
- 5. When the onions are done add them to the bowl with the vegetables.
- 6. Add the quinoa to the bowl and stir.
- 7. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.
- 8. Finally add the chives and chopped basil and mix one more time.