Orange-Quinoa Simple Salad

This Orange-Quinoa Simple Salad is bursting with good nutrients and flavor! Fresh greens, quinoa, oranges, cucumber among other ingredients that provide us water, vitamin E, C good for our skin, vitamin K, calcium good for our bones for these reasons and more, this salad is a staple in my menu.

This salad can go with chicken, shrimps, pork or you simply can enjoy it as it is because the quinoa and hemp seeds tossed in this salad are good source of protein. When I tried this salad, I added some of my Pecan-Crusted Chicken recipe. The combination of the flavors and texture were glorious!

THE BALSAMIC DRESSING

The balsamic dressing that goes with this salad is incredible tasty and easy to make. And if you’re like me who like to check the labels of the items you buy, searching for clean ingredients. Don’t worry, you won’t have do this by making your own balsamic dressing, because this one is free from preservatives, inflammatory oils and sugar. You’ll want to toss it in many of your salads from now on. The ingredients for this dressing are so simple:

• Grape oil ( but you also can use avocado oil or olive oil)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Fresh garlic
• Honey
• Sea salt

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE-QUINOA SIMPLE SALAD

It’s incredible this salad that is packed with loads of flavor, texture and color could be impressively simple to throw together!

1. Cook the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa and cook them with some spices of your preference and salt.
2. Make the balsamic dressing: shake all of the dressing ingredients together in a mason jar. Just before serving, drizzle over the salad to taste and toss to combine.
3. Prep the greens: Rinse and spin dry green and toss them in salad bowl.
4. Toss the cooked quinoa to the salad bowl with some hemp seeds.
5. Prep veggies: Chop and toss the remaining ingredients ( cucumber, orange, sunflower seeds, red onion)
6. Dressing: Just before serving, drizzle over the salad and toss to combine.
7. Include an animal protein if you want.
8. Garnish with sliced almonds and avocado. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and enjoy!

FAQ

• Can I use different salad greens? Yes! You can use anything from green/red lettuce to spring mix, spinach or kale.
• Can I omit the hemp seeds? Absolutely. You can customize this salad just with the ingredients you want.
• Can I use prep quinoa? Yes, you can. I always prefer using fresh ingredients by cooking them but if you need to save some time, you perfectly can use them.

TIPS

*If you’re using lettuce for this salad and you want a crispy texture, rinse the lettuce in cold water, then use a salad spinner to dry them completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

*Add dressing just before dressing. Doing this, you’ll prevent the salad to wild because the salt in the dressing.

*You can prepare and refrigerate most of your salad 2-3 days in advance except for the avocado which is best add it fresh.

For another salad idea, you also can make Rainbow Brown Rice Salad with Shrimps.

Finally, If you try this recipe let us know! Tag a picture #thesunshinekitchen__ on Instagram! I’d love to see your creations!

You also can leave a comment and rate it below this page! ❤️

Orange-Quinua Simple Salad

This Orange-Quinoa Simple Salad is bursting with good nutrients and flavor! Fresh greens, quinoa, oranges, cucumber among other ingredients that provide us water, vitamin E, C good for our skin, vitamin K, calcium good for our bones for these reasons and more, this salad is a staple in my menu.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

• 453 gr green salad
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1¾ cups water
• ¼ cup hemp seeds
• 2 oranges peeled and cut in pieces
• 1 cucumber peeled cut in slices
• ⅓ cup red onion cut in julienne
• ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 avocado for garnish
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds optional

Balsamic Dressing

• ⅓ cup grape oil
• ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 dash honey
• 1 pinch sea salt

Instructions

 

• Rinse the quinoa, add water, salt and the spices of your preference ( I used dry oregano) and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once the water has absorbed, add 1 tbsp of olive oil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool before tossing it to the green salad.
• Cut the orange and veggies and prepare the rest of the ingredients you will use to toss into the salad bowl.
• Assemble: Arrange the green leaves in the base of a serving bowl, then toss quinoa, hemp seeds, orange, sunflower seeds, and red onions. Add some dressing just before serving.
• Garnish: Add some avocados and sliced almonds. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Balsamic Dressing

• Add the grape oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic clove, honey, salt to a small glass jar. Seal well and shake until emulsified.

Keyword orange quinoa simple salad