Quinoa gets tossed with lots of greens and roasted spring green veggies in a creamy, herb packed dressing for a delicious and hearty salad. Nuts get added for crunch and cheese gets mixed in for extra flavor, protein, and calcium. It can be eaten on its own for a lighter meal, but my favorite way to eat it is topped with baked or poached salmon or fried or poached eggs.
Ingredient highlight
Quinoa! Though we think of this as a grain, it’s actually a seed to a plant! That’s why it’s such a great source of plant-based protein since it contains all 9 essential amino acids. It’s also rich in magnesium, calcium, vitamin E, and fiber.
Servings 4
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Cook Time 15 minutes Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 4 cups chopped or thinly sliced veggies (asparagus, fennel, green beans, snap peas, and/or jarred artichokes)*
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, finely chopped (in the blender)(about 2 cups)**
- 1 cup fresh herbs, chopped (optional)
- ½ cup chopped toasted nuts (pistachios, almonds or walnuts), plus more for topping
- ½-1 cup crumbled or grated cheese (parmesan, feta, or goat cheese)
For the dressing:
- 2 cups loosely packed cilantro, parsley, and/or dill
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (or use ¼ cup nutritional yeast)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2-4 tbsp water, to thin
- *You can use any veggies here. I used 1 large fennel and 10-12 oz asparagus. Most spring veggies cook quickly: green beans, snap peas, asparagus, green peas, jarred artichokes. Veggies like fennel can withstand a longer cook time. If using all quick cooking veggies, then just roast them for 5-10 minutes total.
- **To finely chop your kale, add the de-stemmed leaves to your blender (before making the dressing) and blend until finely chopped, using a tamper tool to encourage even blending. You could also just finely chop the kale by hand, but I find the blender does the best job.
- Protein bump! ~ This salad pairs really well with simply roasted or poached salmon or boiled/poached/fried eggs, but any cooked protein would work!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F convection of 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To cook the quinoa, in a medium pot, add the quinoa and 1 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and water has evaporated.
- Once it’s done cooking, remove the lid, add the kale, and fluff it into the hot quinoa with a fork. Transfer to a large bowl and spread around to cool off.
- To the baking sheet, add any veggies that can stand a longer cook time (see note on veggies). Add the oil, salt, and pepper and toss to coat, then spread out evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, then add the quick cooking veggies along with a light drizzle of oil and sprinkle of salt. Use a spatula to toss together, then spread out and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the herbs, cheese, oil, lemon, mustard, garlic and salt to a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth. Add water to thin, starting with 2 tablespoons, until you have a drizzly dressing.
- Transfer the roasted veggies to the large bowl along with any extra herbs (if using). You can add the cheese to the salad or save it for topping or do both.
- Drizzle about ⅔ of the dressing into the bowl and toss to coat. You can thin out the remaining dressing with a bit of water to stretch it if you’d like. Serve topped with a drizzle of the remaining dressing, more cheese, nuts, olive oil, and black pepper.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook 1 cup quinoa
- Chop/thinly slice 4 cups veggies
- Use a blender to finely chop 1 bunch kale (about 2 cups)
- Chop 1-2 cups fresh herbs (optional)
- Grate or crumble 1 cup cheese
- Toast and chop 1 cup nuts (or use raw nuts)
Substitutions:
- To make vegan, skip the cheese in the salad and use nutritional yeast in the dressing. Add some extra nuts into the salad.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftovers in the microwave to take the chill off or eat it cold. Squeeze some extra lemon on top to brighten it up. Top with cheese, nuts, etc…
- Top or serve with any cooked protein.
- To stretch the leftover dressing, stir in a bit of water or more lemon and olive oil with a pinch of salt.
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