This is a fun new way to use quinoa in a flavor-packed and vegan-friendly salad.
Need a salad to take you from winter into spring? This Curry Quinoa Salad is it – it has winter fruits like blood orange and lemon, warming curry spices, and mulberries with fresh herbs that remind me of spring! It’s a beautiful salad to make for a busy week ahead, for a picnic with your friends or loved one, for lunch on the go, etc.
This dressing in this quinoa salad is one of my favorite go-to’s. It takes about 1 minute to whip up and is made with pantry staples like extra virgin olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, and mustard. You can make a large jar of this dressing and store it in a mason jar, keep it in the fridge, and give it a good shake before you dress your next salad or need a marinade for fish/shrimp/chicken/beans/grains/tempeh/tofu, etc. The possibilities are endless with this one, and I hope this becomes one of your favorites!
Like most dressings and marinades, the longer it sits on the food you mix it with, the better this salad tastes (with the exception of using this dressing on dark leafy greens besides the Massaged Kale Salad). Quinoa and millet are two of my favorite gluten free sources of carbohydrates (and protein) that I enjoy cooking with. Quinoa contains about 9g protein per 1 cup cooked and contains all amino acids, making it a “complete” protein (which I use quotations here because we’ve busted that nutrition myth about how we need to each a combination of foods to get a “complete protein”). You can read more detail on how our bodies use amino acids from food and from what’s stored in our bodies in this blog post here and here.
Besides quinoa in this salad, there’s also curry seasoning mainly comprised of my favorite spice in the universe, you guessed it, turmeric! Curry seasoning is basically an affordable way to pack a huge amount of flavor in a very small volume. I only use about a teaspoon of it mixed with this dressing and get a beautiful and subtle flavor while giving this salad a pretty golden hue.
- 1 cup quinoa (may use white or red)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped mint
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- 1/4 cup diced sun dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup dried mulberries (or use raisins)
- 1 small blood orange, peeled and chopped
- For the dressing:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon curry seasoning
- Black pepper to taste
- Sea salt to taste
- Cook quinoa to package directions, usually 25 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients “for the dressing” and whisk to combine. Add sun dried tomatoes, orange, almonds, herbs, and raisins and stir. Add cooked and cooled quinoa and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Store: in a the fridge in an airtight glass container for 1 week. Enjoy at room temperature or chilled.
Let’s hear it!
What are your favorite crunchy vegetable and nut/seed combos to use in salads? Let me know what you think when you give this recipe a go! Leave a comment and rate it, rating helps me continue to improve recipes for you. I love seeing what you come up with so don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #nutritionstripped on Instagram for a chance to win something cool when I repost!
