Cold and Colorful Quinoa Salad
Try this Cold and Colorful Quinoa Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Cold and Colorful Quinoa Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 cup quinoa
- 4 green onions diced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 13/4 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (make sure t and use vegetable broth if you need this dish to be vegan or vegetarian)
- 1 can eden organic navy beans drained and rinsed well
- 1/2 english cucumber diced
- 1/4 cup red cabbage diced
- 1/2 orange bell pepper diced
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- Carbohydrate 163.546586010914 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 95.3831214142429 g
- Fiber 19.6202338620179 g
- Protein 35.1376978286644 g
- Saturated Fat 12.8771806414311 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (634g)
- Sodium 37.2326313203269 mg
- Sugar 143.926352148896 g
- Trans Fat 3.53170095457618 g
- Calories 1625 calories
Step-by-step
- In a medium saucepan, heat broth until boiling. Add quinoa (be sure to rinse quinoa as directed on package), stir, place lid on pot and turn heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork.
- In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add quinoa and mix.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve as a cold salad.
Quinoa acts as the structural foundation for this entire dish, providing a neutral base that absorbs dressings while maintaining a distinct pop against crisp vegetables. Raw quinoa possesses a natural bitter coating called saponin. Rinsing the grains thoroughly through a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water before cooking removes this residue. Skipping this wash leaves an unpleasant, soapy aftertaste.
Achieving the correct bite in the grain requires precise thermal control. Simmering one cup of grain in liquid for exactly 15 minutes allows the tiny spirals to unfurl without bursting into mush. Trapping the steam with a tight-fitting lid ensures even hydration throughout the pot. Fluffing the cooked grains immediately with a fork introduces air pockets, preventing clumping and allowing heat to dissipate rapidly before mixing.
Vegetables contribute contrasting crunch that can easily turn watery if handled improperly. Salting high-moisture ingredients like cucumbers and tomatoes beforehand draws out excess liquid, keeping the dressing concentrated and preventing the dish from becoming soggy over a three-day refrigeration window. Cutting all produce into uniform dice ensures that every forkful delivers an even distribution of snap and flavor. Olive oil and fresh lemon juice emulsify when whisked together, coating the porous surfaces without weighing down the lighter components.
Substitutions alter the final profile significantly depending on dietary needs. Swapping chicken broth for a standard vegetable stock maintains the savory depth required to season the grain adequately. Pairing this preparation with grilled flank steak or roasted white fish balances the carbohydrate load with lean protein, creating a complete meal driven by contrasting temperatures and textures.
