A fresh, simple, and versatile summer salad. A perfect side dish for whatever you’re grilling up this summer.
Driving home from our vacation at Zion National Park I was reading my new Cooking Light. They had an article on quinoa, how great it is for you and fun ways to change it up. We were constantly eating on vacation, so something light and healthy was just what I was craving.
The combo that jumped out at me was the one they featured in the article with tomatoes and avocados drizzled with a little olive oil. I didn’t have any fresh cilantro, so I subbed parsley and globe basil from my garden. I also threw in some matchstick carrots. I served it with grilled chicken.
Other combos in the article that I hope to try are the Rise and Shine verison with fresh blueberries, nuts and a little brown sugar and cinnamon. Or the Strawberry Fields with sliced strawberries, hazelnuts, arugula, and crumbled goat cheese.
I didn’t know how well this salad would go over with my non-avocado loving twins, but we all liked it. Matt even had three servings. I cooked a double batch of quinoa and had it for breakfast with raspberries, brown sugar and almond milk. It’s a great grain. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a try.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 1/2 cup matchstick carrots, steamed for 45 seconds in the microwave
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, havled
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced
- 1 large California avocado, diced
- 1 - 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions and chill. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
More great salads you might like:
Chicken Apple Salad with Candied Walnuts, Barbara Bakes
Perfect Pasta Salad, Barbara Bakes
Roasted Tomato Caprese Panzanella, How Sweet It Is
Southwestern Quinoa Salad, Kalyn’s Kitchen
Greek Quinoa Salad, Two Peas and Their Pod
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
A wonderful salad! Summery and healthy. A great accompaniment to chicken.
Cheers,
Rosa
Can’t wait to hear about your trip. I love quinoa. It’s so versatile and I love all the healthy benefits from it! Great looking salad, Barbara!!
This just might be going on my menu this weekend! YUM!! By the way.. will I see you in Park City in a few weeks? Hope so!
I’ve never tasted quinoa, so I’m bookmarking this. Looks so appetizing!
~Judy
Your salad is vibrant and healthy looking….I just bought quinoa and have been looking for recipes, so this is bookmarked. Anything with avocados in it gets my vote!
I’m really liking quinoa more and more as I use it more often. Your salad has so many of my favorite flavors; sounds like a winner!
We drove through Zion one summer in the middle of a thunderstorm. SO crazy and beautiful! This salad looks great!
Looks Yummy!
I eat salad at least 5 days out of a week in the Summer! This gotta be one great recipe for me to try….soon. I love your ingredients combination.
Your salad looks delicious! I’ve never tried a quinoa salad – I usually use couscous but I’ll have to give this a try next time.
This looks delicious Barbara. Pass me a plate. We eat a lot of quinoa but I have never had it for breakfast. I just picked a counterful of raspberries this morning so maybe I’ll try this tomorrow.
I love all kinds of quinoa salads — this avocado variety sounds fantastic!
A wonderful salad loaded with freshness and deliciousness. Right up my alley!
This salad must be delicious! It’s been a while since I’ve made anything with quinoa – thank you for the reminder! And avocados are on my shopping list for today
This looks fabulous! We ate a lot of quinoa, and avocados sound so good with it.
I’m not surprised that everyone including the twins loved it, it looks delicious. I love quinoa too and recently have had it fried so that it is nice and crunchy (although I don’t know if it is deep fried or shallow fried). I must try figure out how they do it!
xxx
Now that’s my kinda salad! LOVE that first picture Barb!
Thanks! Foodgawker didn’t lol.
Beautiful plate of food. Looks like summer to me!
A perfect summer side!
I tried this out today. Soooooooo delicious! Thanks for posting this!!!!
So glad you let me know you made it! I’ll have to post more healthy dishes just for you!
Your salad looks delicious! I love your ingredients combination.
I love cooking with quinoa! This looks like a wonderful summer dish!
what a bright and beautiful salad, i love it!
love that you used quiona and avocado together. The two sound like they would pair so nicely together with the slight crunch and creaminess. Beautiful salad indeed
Love light and simple sides. That chicken looks heavenly too. I have everything but the darn quinoa!! Wish this was my dinner tonight!
If I have quinoa in the cupboard I know I can always whip up a healthy meal that everybody will enjoy. I’ve never added avocado before and it sounds delicious.
This meal looks perfect for summer! I’m a big fan of quinoa and I’m sure the addition of avocado is delicious!
NICE!! We don’t get quinoa here and the imported lot costs an arm and a leg! I love the explosion of flavours. Would love to sit at your table GF!
a fabulous dish, perfect for summer. Daniela.
Lovely salad, I have only just started playing with Quinoa.
Zion park is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit.
Quinoa always makes me feel good. Loving this salad!
lovely salad will try it
This was my first try at quinoa. We LOVED this recipe! My 2 year old asked for seconds. The only thing i changed was i tossed the avocado in lemon juice to keep it from browning. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Thanks Nicole! How fun that your 2 year old loved it too. Tossing the avocado in lemon juice is a great addition to the recipe.