Rainbow Quinoa Salad

A vibrant, nutritious and wholesome quinoa salad that packs a punch of flavour and texture – it makes a perfect dinner with leftovers for lunch for the next few days. It is a simple salad that you can enjoy again and again, giving you a low-cost and healthful salad.

This Rainbow Quinoa Salad is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a quinoa salad. I don’t think it’s anything fancy or anything too special but it is delicious enough to enjoy every day. It really is an everyday salad for anyone at any time and there isn’t much to it.

I first made this salad a couple of years ago and as I made it so regularly for myself and my family, I almost forgot to make it properly to share it with you on here. I think that because I did make it so often, it didn’t feel exciting enough to post and shout out about. Whereas, in reality, we are all looking for quick, simple and healthy savoury meal options that are also budget-friendly. This Rainbow Quinoa Salad is the answer!

Thank you to Perkier for encouraging to me make this recipe again and to actually write it down! I happily collaborated with the quinoa super snack brand in offering a few savoury lunch options that were nutritionally balanced and delivered on taste and appearance.

The base is gluten-free quinoa cooked until fluffy which takes less than 15 minutes and can easily be batch cooked at the weekend. The beautiful colour comes from the raw grated beetroot – which is perfectly OK to eat raw although you can grate pre-cooked beets if you prefer. I then like to add a mixture of vegetables like grated carrot, spinach leaves and edamame beans for some protein to the salad. That said, I want this salad to be one of those that you turn to when you have minimal ingredients in the house, so feel free to use any leftover veggies you have and swap the edamame beans for chickpeas, cannellini beans of even cubed tofu, for example. 

I always love to add some crunch on top of a salad, so this Rainbow Quinoa Salad is topped with pumpkin seeds and almonds – either use plain, roasted or salted depending on your mood just watch out for added ingredients. A simple toast in the pan is what I describe in the method below which results is really crunchy seeds and nuts.

The dressing is a very simple throw-it-together one and is very versatile. It is sweet, tangy, salty, savoury and punchy thanks to a blend of olive oil, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, syrup, salt and black pepper. This dressing is a favourite in my household and dresses up boring old salad leaves and transforms them into delicious mouthfuls.

If you are looking for ways to use up leftover quinoa, how about whipping up my Mango, Edamame, Sesame and Tahini Quinoa, Beetroot and Date Quinoa, or Pistachio and Date Quinoa with Roasted Cauliflower.

I hope you’ll love this Rainbow Quinoa Salad, it is quick and easy to make, perfect for dinner and lunch over the next few days as well as being naturally healthy, gluten-free, vegan and low-cost. It is packed with zingy, sweet and earthy flavours and keeps you coming back for more.

Rainbow Quinoa Salad

• Servings: 2-3
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A vibrant, nutritious and wholesome quinoa salad that packs a punch of flavour and texture - it makes a perfect low-cost and simple dinner with leftovers for lunch over the next few days.

Ingredients

• 100g quinoa
• 1 raw beetroot, grated
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 150g edamame beans, thawed
• 40g spinach or rocket, shredded
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp maple/fruit syrup
• Salt and black pepper
• 30g pumpkin seeds
• 30g almonds

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa according to pack instructions, drain and leave to one side. Fluff up with a fork after 10 minutes.
2. Make the dressing by shaking together all the ingredients in a sealed jar and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
3. Add the quinoa to a large mixing bowl along with the grated beetroot, carrot, thawed edamame beans, chopped spinach and pour over the dressing. Toss well to ensure the salad is thoroughly mixed together.
4. Heat a large frying pan and toast the pumpkin seeds and almonds for a few minutes until smelling toasty. Roughly chop the almonds and add most of them and the seeds to the salad. Toss again.
5. Serve scattered with the remaining almonds and pumpkin seeds.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this Rainbow Quinoa Salad so please leave your comments below. If you make this salad do let me know by tagging me on social media – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With rainbow love x