Fresh Strawberry Basil Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Sunflower Seeds & Lemon Vinaigrette
Total Time
25 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(1)
Ingredients
6 servings
- 3/4 cup organic quinoa, rinsed
- 1 1/4 cups quartered strawberries
- 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (about 5-6 leaves)
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (I buy mine from Trader Joe's)
- 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
- For lemon dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
- 1 large basil leaf, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- fresh ground pepper, to taste
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Preparation
Step 1
To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
Step 2
To make dressing: place olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sugar/honey, basil, and salt in blender or food processor. Blend/process for 10-15 seconds; fold into quinoa.
Step 3
Gently fold in strawberries and basil and any other add-ins you'd like such as chickpeas or chicken. Add salt or extra basil to taste. Place salad in refrigerator for few hours to let flavors marinate together. Once ready to serve, garnish salad with goat cheese, sunflower seeds and extra basil. I serve mine over a bed of spinach. Enjoy!
Step 4
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