This Quinoa Salad Recipe is our new favorite! Roasted sweet potato, red bell pepper, and black beans atop a bed of spinach and cooked quinoa with roasted pumpkin seeds and crumbly soft cheese. Add the show-stopping basil-lime vinaigrette and we're ready to eat!
Course Dinner, lunch, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
SWEET POTATOES: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Peel and chop sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Dice pepper into 1/2-inch cubes. Add both to a large sheet pan with plenty of room so the veggies can roast (not steam). Drizzle with olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper. (Add to taste; I add 3/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper.) Toss everything to coat, space out the veggies, and roast for 15 minutes, flip veggies and roast for an additional 10-20 minutes or until desired tenderness. Once tender, remove and toss the drained and rinsed black beans with the potatoes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
QUINOA: Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve in cold water for about 30 seconds. In a small saucepan, combine rinsed quinoa with 2 cups water. Season with salt (I add 1/2 tsp). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover the pan with a lid. Turn heat to the lowest setting and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until the water has completely absorbed in the quinoa. Turn off the heat and let stand covered for 5-10 minutes. After it's finished steaming, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa gently with a fork. Set aside to cool to room temperature. In a hurry? Spread it on a sheet pan and slide it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
DRESSING: Combine all the dressing ingredients, except the oil to a small blender or food processor. Season to taste with salt & pepper (I add 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper). Blend until basil is broken down. Add in oil and blend just until emulsified (do not over-blend). Transfer dressing to a large covered jar and refrigerate while you finish the salad.
ASSEMBLY: Coarsely chop the spinach. Toss spinach and completely cooled quinoa together. Add in the cooled sweet potatoes, pepper, and black bean mixture. Gently toss. Top with chopped avocado or goat cheese if using and pumpkin seeds.
ENJOY: (Before adding dressing, read note 3.)Toss the salad with the desired amount of dressing. (You'll have some left over, depending on how dressed you liked your salads. We use about 3/4 of the dressing, but add as much as you'd like.) Taste and season salad once more, adding a pinch more of salt/pepper if needed to bring flavors alive. Enjoy immediately.
Video
Notes
Note 1: Sweet potatoes: This recipe uses about 2 medium/large potatoes or about 1.3 pounds.Note 2: Basil: If you happen to have fresh basil, perfect! If not, one standard .75 ounce packet is the perfect amount for this recipe!Note 3:Storage. Only add dressing to the amount of salad you intend to eat that day. This salad is best eaten immediately after being dressed, so if you want leftovers, only add cheese, pepitas, and dressing to the portion that will be eaten immediately. For more storage tips read the last paragraph of the blog post.