Italian quinoa salad
4
Points®
Total time: 40 min • Prep: 25 min • Cook: 15 min • Serves: 6 • Difficulty: Easy
Fresh and filling, this easy salad is ideal for packed lunches or as a dinner side dish. If you’d like to bulk it up, add sautéed tofu to keep it vegetarian or stir in chopped rotisserie chicken or sautéed shrimp. Quinoa is grain-like in nature and flavor but is actually a high-protein seed. Toasting it brings out a rich nuttiness, which gives this salad greater depth and flavor. It’s also a good idea to rinse quinoa before cooking it. Quinoa has a natural coating called saponin, that can make it taste bitter once cooked. But, you can easily get rid of that coating by rinsing it.
Ingredients
Uncooked quinoa
1 cup(s)
Celery
2 rib(s), medium, ribs, minced
Cucumber
1 medium, seedless, peeled, minced
Radishes
8 medium, chopped
Scallions
5 medium, roots trimmed and minced
Orange
2 medium, peeled and cut into segments*
Chives
2 Tbsp, chopped
Fresh basil
½ cup(s), fresh, chopped
Pine nuts (unsalted, raw or dry roasted, no sugar added)
¼ cup(s), toasted
Olive oil
2 tsp, extra virgin
Table salt
⅛ tsp, or to taste
Black pepper
⅛ tsp, or to taste
Instructions
1
Over a medium flame, heat a one-quart saucepan, and add the quinoa. Toast the quinoa for a few minutes and then pour over 1 1/2 cups water. Cover with a tight fitting lid and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook the quinoa for 15 minutes. Shut off the heat and allow the quinoa to sit for 10 minutes.
2
In a serving bowl, toss all the ingredients together to thoroughly combine. Season to taste and serve. Yields about X cups per serving.
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