This summer I’ve been craving light salads loaded with veggies. I thought it would be the perfect time to make a loaded quinoa salad that can be served warm, straight from the stove, or chilled hours before in the fridge. It works both ways, people.
So I love me some quinoa based dishes, but I do want to note that Jaryd can’t eat it. He’ll have it as a side but if he has a meal that’s solely based on quinoa, it’ll spike his sugar. So I just wanted to note that because it’s something to keep in mind!
This is the kind of salad that is amazing on it’s own, but also great with some grilled chicken or meat on top. Ready for this idea? If you have leftovers, try them in an omelette. YOU GUYS!! It’s so good!! So let’s make this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad!
Ingredients for quinoa chickpea salad
- quinoa
- vegetable broth
- garlic
- chickpeas
- grape tomatoes
- red pepper
- cucumber
- fresh basil
- fresh mint
- pine nuts
How to make this quinoa chickpea salad
Rinse the quinoa in a mesh strainer. Place the quinoa, veggie broth, and minced garlic in a medium saucepot. Bring to a boil. Then, turn down the heat to a simmer and cover for 10 – 15 minutes until all the broth is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
Place the quinoa in a large bowl along with the rinsed chickpeas, sliced cucumber, chopped pepper, sliced tomatoes, basil, and mint. Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl.
Place the avocado, cilantro, avocado oil, garlic, water, lime juice, and sea salt in your food processor. Process until it’s nice and combined, about 10 seconds. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and process again until it’s combined.
Place the pine nuts in a small pan over medium-low heat for about 3 – 5 minutes. Shake the pan every 30 seconds to toast your pine nuts. Drizzle the avocado sauce on top of the quinoa salad and toss. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.
More light and easy salads to try:
- Watermelon Feta Salad
- Asparagus Pasta Salad
- Crunchy Kale Avocado Salad + Ginger Carrot Dressing
- Lemon + Avocado Kale Salad
- Broccoli Chickpea Salad + Peanut Dressing
Recipe
Mediterranean Quinoa Chickpea Salad
Quinoa Chickpea Salad is perfect for summer! It’s loaded with chickpeas, cucumber, fresh herbs, and has a deliciously creamy avocado dressing!
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 cup white quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 oz. chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup chopped red pepper
- 1/2 cup cucumber, cut in rounds and then fourths
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
Dressing:
- 1 avocado
- handful cilantro (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup water (plus more if needed to thin it out)
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa in a mesh strainer.
- Place the quinoa, veggie broth, and minced garlic in a medium saucepot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Then, turn down the heat to a simmer and cover for 10 – 15 minutes until all the broth is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
- Place the quinoa in a large bowl along with the rinsed chickpeas, sliced cucumber, chopped pepper, sliced tomatoes, basil, and mint.
- Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl over the quinoa salad.
- Place the pine nuts in a small pan over medium-low heat for about 3 – 5 minutes.
- Shake the pan every 30 seconds to toast your pine nuts.
- Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the avocado, cilantro, avocado oil, garlic, water, lime juice, and sea salt in your food processor.
- Process until it’s combined, about 10 seconds.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and process again until it’s combined.
- Drizzle the avocado sauce on top of the quinoa salad and toss.
- Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.
- Serve warm or chilled.
Nutrition Info:
- Serving Size: 1/8
- Calories: 390
- Sugar: 7.8g
- Sodium: 267mg
- Fat: 19.6g
- Saturated Fat: 2.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 12.4g
- Protein: 14.1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Enjoy!! xo
I just stumbled upon this recipe and am super excited to make this tonight 🙂 Just wanted to let you know that step 5, i think you meant to say “add the rinsed chickpeas” 😉 but thanks for all of your amazing recipes you are amazing!
Eep! I’ll change that now! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!! xo
This looks so yummy! Making it today. What do you suggest if we want to keep it for a few sales during the week? Think we need to keep all ingredients separate?
Thank you!
You could probably prep the salads and combine everything and then just keep the dressing separate to toss day-of 🙂 Hope you love them!! xo