I’m never shy about my love for the hearty meal salad – especially on a busy weekday when you just want something fresh and crisp for dinner. Because of this, I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to throw together a filling salad.
Which was the inspiration for this fresh salad with roasted zucchini and toasted quinoa. Like in my arugula and halloumi salad, I like to toast the quinoa in this as I’ve found it my favourite way to enjoy this grain. Along with roasting the zucchini, there are lots of different flavours and textures that make this salad absolutely delicious.
How to Make Quinoa Zucchini Salad
This recipe has a few elements to it, but it’s not altogether complicated – just make sure you don’t want to eat in 30 minutes – you’ll need more time. But most of that is inactive, so it’s not a bother!
We’ll start with salting our zucchini, which helps draw some of the moisture from the squash and prevents it from turning to mush in the oven.
Put the zucchini in a colander set over a large bowl and sprinkle it generously with salt. Mix to combine and let it sit for at least an hour, but it benefits from sitting longer.
Meanwhile, you can cook your quinoa. Measure out your quinoa and rinse it thoroughly in cool water. Add it to a small saucepan and cover it with 1.5x by weight of cool water.
Cover the pan, set it over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Then, remove the pan from the heat (don’t uncover it!) and let it sit in the pan for another 10 minutes. Afterwards, use a fork to fluff up the granules and mix in some olive oil, salt and pepper.
Spread the quinoa over a parchment-lined baking sheet and move it to a 200°C/400°F oven and toast it until it’s lightly crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside for later.
Then, add some pine nuts to a baking sheet and move them to the oven to toast for 3-5 minutes, just until they’re golden and fragrant.
Now it’s time to increase that oven temperature to 230°C/450°F in order to roast your zucchini.
Rinse the salt off of your zucchini and pat it dry thoroughly with some towels. Add it to a bowl and drizzle over some olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Also, sprinkle over a bit of cornstarch to aid in its crisping.
Mix this to combine and then spread over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven until the zucchini is just tender and beginning to char – about 10 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.
Now it’s time to assemble your salad! Add some greens to a large bowl (I like using little gem lettuce, but use whatever salad greens you’d like) along with a sliced red onion, some sultanas for sweetness some chopped fresh parsley, thyme and oregano and some crumbled feta. Also, add in your quinoa and pine nuts.
Toss in your zucchini and pour over a dressing of your choice – I like using a citrus vinaigrette like my maple lemon dressing but it would also be great with my pomegranate molasses vinaigrette.
Grind some black pepper over the salad and toss it until combined. Then, go ahead and serve immediately.
Zucchini Quinoa Salad with Feta & Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini split and cut into 3cm (1½in) half-moons
- 150 g (⅔ cup) quinoa thoroughly rinsed
- 30 g (¼ cup) pine nuts
- 1 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
- 100 g (3½ oz) lettuce like little gem or romaine
- 30 g (2 tbsp) feta crumbled
- 20 g (2 tbsp) sultanas/golden raisins
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh oregano finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme finely chopped
- 60 ml (¼ cup) citrus vinaigrette such as maple lemon or grapefruit
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Add the zucchini to a colander or fine mesh sieve and set over a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1½ tsp of salt and stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least one hour.
- Meanwhile, add the quinoa to a small saucepan. Cover with 200ml (⅔ cup) cold water, cover the pan and set over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest in pan, covered, for 10 minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, add the pine nuts to a rimmed baking sheet. Move to oven and toast for 3-5 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Set aside.
- Drizzle the quinoa with 1 tbsp of olive oil and generous pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. Fluff with a fork and then spread over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Move to the oven and cook until lightly golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 230°C/450°F. Thoroughly rinse the zucchini and the pat it dry on some paper towels. Add it to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil, the cornstarch and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
- Spread the zucchini over a parchment-lined baking sheet and move to the oven. Roast until just tender and beginning to char – about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Add the lettuce, feta, sultanas, red onion, parsley, oregano and thyme along with the toasted quinoa and pine nuts to a large salad bowl.
- Once cooled, add the zucchini and pour over the salad dressing. Toss until thoroughly combined and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
This is a great salad to have as a light dinner or a hearty lunch. Despite there being a few different elements, it’s simple to throw together and absolutely delicious!
Are you looking for a salad with zucchini and quinoa? Have any questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
