Summer really makes you only want light and easy meals, and that’s exactly where this quinoa salad comes in. This salad does require some prep but the taste will be worth it - trust me!
To make the salad super refreshing, I used mint leaves. To cut them fine, I used herb scissors. It’s a bit labor intense but you get fine shredded leaves and I think it just tastes better like this. Apart from the mint, I also use parsley leaves which I also cut with the herb scissors.
The other ingredients in this lovely salad are roasted sweet potato and quinoa of course.
To cook the quinoa for the salad you can choose one of the 2 ways:
Method 1: cook the quinoa just like rice - for any portion of quinoa, add double the amount of water and cook until the quinoa absorbs all the water. In this method, it will be 2 cups of water for the 1 cup of quinoa.
Method 2: The other way is to cook the quinoa like pasta - in a pot full of boiling water and after 8-10 minutes, pour the quinoa and water to a strainer and set aside to cool.
For salads, I usually cook the quinoa like pasta/method 2. If I make the quinoa as a side dish, I would add spices and cook like rice/method 1.
For extra crunch and texture, I added slivered almonds to the quinoa salad. You can add other nuts too if you would prefer.
The dressing is pretty simple and has a sweet twist that goes well with the sweet potatoes. The sweetness in the dressing comes from the date syrup, if you can't get it, you can use honey instead.
Now, let’s get started, here is the recipe for a summer fresh quinoa salad:
Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- Water (quantity depends on the method you choose to cook the quinoa)
- 2 sweet potatoes cubed
- Bundle mint leaves
- Bundle parsley leaves
- ½ cup slivered almonds
For the dressing:
- 6 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoon date syrup (silan) or honey
- Salt and pepper by your taste
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F with the fan.
- On a baking pan with baking paper, arrange the cubed sweet potatoes and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Set aside to cool.
- Cook the quinoa in the method you choose and set aside to cool.
- Cut finely the mint and parsley leaves using herb scissors or a knife.
- In a small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients.
- In a bowl, place the quinoa, sweet potatoes, cut leaves and almonds.
- Pour the dressing and mix well.
- Dig in and enjoy!
Notes
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