Quinoa Spinach Salad is a straightforward, protein-packed, refreshing salad, made with quinoa, spinach, and a lightweight and brilliant lemon dressing.
This easy recipe for quinoa salad begins off with fluffy, stovetop or Instantaneous Pot Quinoa after which is dressed merely to create a protein-packed, wholesome entree.
Quinoa is a pseudo-grain that’s filled with fiber, protein, and nutritional vitamins. It’s really a powerhouse of vitamin.
However by itself, quinoa could be slightly bland and missing in taste. Nevertheless, when dressed appropriately, quinoa could be fairly scrumptious and shines in salads like Greek Quinoa Salad, Mexican Quinoa Salad, and this Spinach Quinoa Salad.
why you will love this recipe
- Fast-Prep. This Spinach Quinoa salad comes collectively in lower than half-hour
- Excessive-Protein. Quinoa is tremendous excessive in protein, making this meatless salad, filling and satisfying.
- Allergy-Pleasant. Dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, and vegan-friendly, Spinach Quinoa salad is suited to quite a lot of dietary restrictions or preferences.
- Good for Meal Prep. The flavour of this quinoa salad will get higher because it sits, which makes this a terrific recipe to prep on the weekend and revel in for fast lunches through the week.
Notes on Components
- Quinoa: Use any selection (white, pink, a mixture) of quinoa you want. Should you do not look after quinoa, be happy to make use of rice or orzo as the bottom for this salad.
- Spinach: Spinach is usually my go-to for this salad, as it’s straightforward to search out, and reasonably priced. However arugula is also a scrumptious various to spinach.
- Inexperienced Beans: I like the feel that crisp recent inexperienced beans add to this salad. They’re a terrific distinction to tender spinach and mushy quinoa.
- Lemon Dressing: The dressing is a brilliant easy mixture of lemon zest, recent lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. It’s brilliant, and recent, and pairs properly with the fragile greens on this salad.
- Further Choices: I like including roasted pink peppers and diced cucumbers to this salad for extra taste and crunch. Grape tomatoes, olives, recent peppers, artichoke hearts, and even feta if you’re not dairy-free are all nice additions as properly.
Find out how to Make Spinach Quinoa Salad
- Step One: Put together Quinoa. I personally desire to cook dinner quinoa within the Instantaneous Pot, because it comes collectively in minutes, however you’ll be able to simply put together it on the range as properly, utilizing the instructions on the bundle of your quinoa or offered within the recipe card. As soon as the quinoa has cooked, fluff it with a fork and set it to the aspect to chill barely.
- Step Two: Put together Inexperienced Beans. You possibly can steam or blanch recent inexperienced beans or microwave your frozen inexperienced beans. You simply wish to cook dinner them sufficient to take away the uncooked style, but nonetheless preserve them crisp-tender.
- Step 4: Assemble Salad. Toss the cooked quinoa, steamed inexperienced beans, spinach, cucumbers, roasted peppers, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt till every little thing is properly mixed.
- Step 5: Chill. It’s best to refrigerate the Spinach Quinoa Salad for at the very least half-hour to permit the quinoa time to soak up the flavors.
Recipe Modifications
- Change Out The Dressing. This recipe is solely dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. You possibly can add extra dimension through the use of Italian Dressing or Balsamic French dressing.
- Range the Greens. Use arugula rather than spinach. Add grape tomatoes in place or along with the roasted pink peppers. I additionally love including leftover roasted greens to this straightforward quinoa salad.
- Function a Wrap. As an alternative of serving this spinach quinoa as a salad, wrap it up in a spinach or flour tortilla with sliced tomatoes and avocado for a hearty, vegan-friendly hand-held lunch.
Extra Wholesome Distinctive Salad Recipes
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Quinoa Spinach Salad
A refreshing and light-weight quinoa salad made with spinach and a recent lemon dressing.
Servings: 4 giant servings
Energy: 330kcal
Prevents your display screen from going darkish whereas making ready the recipe.
Directions
Find out how to Prepare dinner Quinoa
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Making ready on the range: Carry 2 cups of broth, quinoa, and ½ teaspoon salt, to a boil. Scale back warmth to low and canopy. Prepare dinner for quarter-hour, or till quinoa has absorbed liquid. As soon as cooked, fluff the quinoa with a fork. Enable the quinoa to chill to room temperature.
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Making ready Quinoa within the Instantaneous Pot: Place 1 cup of broth, quinoa, and ½ teaspoon salt within the Instantaneous Pot. Place the lid on the stress cooker, and ensure the lid is sealed. Set cook dinner time to 1 minute on excessive stress. As soon as cook dinner time has elapsed, let the stress launch naturally for at the very least 10 minutes. As soon as stress has been launched, fluff the quinoa with a fork. Enable the quinoa to chill to room temperature.
Find out how to Put together Inexperienced Beans
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Place recent inexperienced beans in a microwave-safe bowl and add in ¼ cup water. Microwave for 4 minutes or till beans are simply tender. Alternatively, blanch inexperienced beans by bringing a big pot of water to a boil. As soon as boiling, add the inexperienced beans and boil for 1-2 minutes after which instantly switch to a bowl of ice water to cease the cooking course of. Enable beans to chill after which drain off water and pat dry earlier than including to the salad.
Quinoa Salad
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Toss the cooked quinoa with the zest of a lemon, the juice of the lemon, olive oil, and salt. Add within the inexperienced beans, spinach, cucumbers, and roasted peppers, and toss to coat.
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Cowl and refrigerate for at the very least half-hour previous to serving.
Notes
Quinoa: Use any shade of quinoa OR be happy to make use of cooked rice or orzo rather than the cooked quinoa.
Serving: The salad could be eaten instantly however is greatest after a number of hours of refrigeration to let the flavors marry collectively.
Storage: This salad could be saved within the fridge for 4-5 days.
Diet
Energy: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 8g | Fats: 14g | Saturated Fats: 2g | Sodium: 901mg | Potassium: 683mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3585IU | Vitamin C: 36.1mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 3.9mg
