My weekend consisted of about 20+ hours cooking, baking, styling, and shooting cookbook recipes. It was intense, but luckily I always seem to have a lot of fun when there’s food involved. I managed to cap off the weekend by gouging my middle finger with a processor blade. Middle finger indeed. Side note – Have you ever tried to type with a band-aid on? This could get ugly…
As Hillary said on Instagram, my kitchen photo made her twitch:
I feel you, Hillary.
Anyway, it felt so good to kick up my feet Sunday night! This quinoa salad fueled my weekend, in addition to 3 summer appetizers, 1 breakfast recipe, and 2 entrées. Luckily, we had friends over Saturday night to help us eat all the appetizers we were drowning in. The plates were empty within an hour, so I’ll take that as a good sign!
This quinoa salad is served warm, which seemed appropriate for the cooler temps we had over the weekend. It’s all topped off with a lovely green sauce to infuse the dish with a tangy bite of fresh herbs, lemon, and olive oil. I used basil, chives, and dill because that’s what I had on hand, but feel free to use any herbs you like.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Warm Quinoa Salad with 3-Herb Green Sauce
Yield
2-3 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 0.45kg/1 lb mixed cherry/Campari tomatoes
- 3 corn-on-the-cob, shucked
- 3 green onions, chopped
For the 3 herb green sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup lightly packed basil
- 1 tbsp fresh dill*
- 2 tbsp fresh chives
- approx 1/4 cup yellow tomato*
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8th tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Directions
- Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Add quinoa to a medium-sized pot along with 1.5 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to low and cover with lid. Cook for 15-17 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid on before fluffing with a fork.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Chop tomatoes and mince garlic. Remove corn from the cob by slicing down the ear of the corn with a chef’s knife. Add oil to skillet and the chopped veggies. Season generously with Herbamare or fine grain sea salt. Cook for about 7-8 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in chopped green onions.
- Meanwhile, make the green sauce in a food processor. Start by dropping the garlic into the processor to mince. Now add in the herbs and mince again. Next add the liquids – tomatoes, oil, and lemon juice. Stop to scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Season to taste & add opt. nooch.
- To assemble, spoon quinoa into a bowl, layer the tomato and corn mix on top, and spoon on green sauce. Season with salt and pepper & enjoy!
Tip:
- You can sub any fresh herbs that you like.
- The yellow tomatoes in this green sauce acts as an oil-replacer. They thin out the sauce without needing a ton of oil. I used yellow tomatoes so the sauce would remain a lovely green colour. Red tomatoes will likely change the colour to be less vibrant.
- 3-Herb Green Sauce yield is approx 1/3 cup
The fridge is overflowing with simple, healthy food. It’s going to be a great week!
Oh, dear! I hope your finger is okay :(
On the bright side – that salad looks fabulous! I love the colors.
Great colors in this salad, Angela! Sounds like you had one productive weekend… minus the cut to the middle finger. Hey, at least it wasn’t your thumb! I HATE cutting my thumb. Enjoy the week!
Now that is one lovely looking summer salad! There is nothing better than using fresh tomatoes right off the vine this time of year….and great idea about using the yellow tomatoes in the sauce!
Hope your finger survived the typing ;-) Have a wonderful week!
I think the yellow tomatoes are clever, too. Beautiful pictures.
Aww man, that stinks about your finger but kinda comical which one it was. “Which finger did you hurt?” THIS ONE! *waves it around* I’d take advantage of that one. ;-)
Great salad by the way!
I’ve been staring at my little box of Quinoa in the cupboard for weeks now trying to think of a new recipe to use it in – this is perfect!
The colors in this salad just POP off the screen! Love brightly colored big bowls like this — and the sauce, mmmm! So flavorful!
You had me up until corn :/ I’m a weirdo and I hate it (and I don’t hate ANYTHING).
I didn’t know there was such a thing as hating corn! jk ;) You could sub it out for yellow squash maybe? Or any veggie you have kicking around.
Hi Ang! You were busy. Also your poor finger, I know typing can be so tricky with a band aid on. :) My kitchen looks like this at lest once a week!
So this quinoa meal looks great! Easy, colorful, and very healthy! Perrrrfecto if you ask me. Have a great Monday!
Gorgeous salad! It’s not cooling off here yet thank goodness, but it’s nice to break things up once in a while and have something cozy and warm.
Glad someone’s weekend was productive! I feel so unprepared for the week, but it was a wonderful weekend filled with sunshine!!
I want to put this in a jar and take it to lunch!
Love all the herbs here, and I just bough some heirloom cherry tomatoes that would be awesome in this. Great recipe!
Good idea, it would be really good layered in a jar…and portable too.
Mm, this sounds absolutely perfect right now – it has been cool here, too, and was so chilly in the house this morning that I actually cooked myself breakfast, instead of just blending up a smoothie. A warm, healthy dish like this would really hit the spot!
And congrats on getting throug so much of the cookbook work… I’m envious of your energy. I get overwhelmed if I have to prepare and photograph more than one meal in a day!
hah my energy comes in spurts…today I feel beat up! It’s always good to take time away from it so I think today will be mostly computer work to give my feet a rest. Enjoy the dish if you make it!
Angela, I just love all your recipes! Been a follower for years!
Gotta agree with Heather: the kitchen photo made me twitch. :-)
What a beautiful and healthy salad to eat. I can hardly wait to make this. Thanks for the recipe and excellent photography. The photos sealed the deal for me.
Angela,
Great recipe! I absolutely love your site. I’ve yet to find another to beat it :). All your recipes are simple and easy to make. I cannot wait for your cookbook. Is it possible for you to recommend any cookbooks in the meantime? I am slowly transitioning into incorporating more and more vegan cooking in my lifestyle.
Thank you for your help!
Thank you so much! My fav cookbooks are listed on my amazon page (you can find it at the bottom of the blog in the footer called my favourite things). Hope this helps!
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear about your finger Ange! I did it last week too while trying to clean my spiralizer blade – NOT fun! It sounds like you had a really busy weekend, and I’m glad you got a tasty quinoa salad out of it! I can’t wait to try the herb sauce.
Wow that kitchen is quite a mess. I spent 3 hours in the kitchen on Sunday making lunches, breakfast, snacks and dinner and my kitchen looked quite similar. I was lucky enough to have a dish fairy (aka my boyfriend who will enjoy all the food I made!) to do all of my dishes and clean the kitchen.
that green sauce sounds just delightful!
Yummo…quinoa bowls are my favorites, esp. when late summer tomatoes are involved. And, that herb green sauce sounds lovely. Excited!
Oh my gosh – those kitchen counters are loaded! I’m sure it looks worse than it was because of your mirror backsplashes, but still. Dang girl! :) But, sometimes a big mess means a lot of fun!
I love the simple freshness of this recipe. Quinoa is such a great base for a salad. Hope your finger is on the mend and that you had tons of recipe success for your book!