It’s Fresh Start Monday! And we’re starting with this quinoa summer salad.
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This was amazing! I made this for company and there was nothing left. I could eat this every day. The Magic Green Sauce was out of this world!!!
Lisa
At the risk of sounding annoyingly excited about a Monday morning, I have to say – I love a good fresh start. Especially after weekend eating that includes sushi takeout with an emphasis on the shrimp tempura rolls, BBQ eatings from a friend’s wedding, and a smorgasbord of good ol’ potluck food including this SLOW COOKED MEXICAN GRILLED CORN DIP from my friend Steph at our Sunday dinner club party yesterday. Seriously whenever I say “dinner club” I feel like I’m 80. And seriously I ate a plateful of that cold leftover corn dip after everyone left last night. Judge or join. It’s up to you.
We know how to food-party on the weekend – no doubt about it. But the weekend is over and it’s Fresh Start Monday.
You know the feeling when you’ve had such a good (bad) eating weekend that you’re actually looking forward to a big bowl of salad? Yes, you and I both know. That’s why this salad exists. It was created to satisfy the Fresh Start Monday craving for anyone, anywhere, who might also have a personal rule about only eating salads that taste amazing. Repeat: Must. Taste. Amazing.
This salad is 1) easy, 2) delicious and filling, like only the best salads are, and 3) HEALTHY in a number of ways.
The ways in which it is healthy for your Fresh Start Monday:
- Quinoa = protein. ✔️ Bjork is on a major protein kick right now so we’re looking to find ways to eat the same food that (for me) might not need much meat. I get lazy, you know? Quinoa is the perfect balancer for us – he gets his protein, I get my easy meatless meals.
- Veggie rainbow! 💙 We love a good veggie rainbow around here – especially when you can create a veggie rainbow with, um, two ingredients: spinach and those very adorable tricolor cherry tomatoes. Except are they cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes? or something else? All I know is they sell big boxes of them at Costco and they are a summertime must.
- Vegan potential. ⭐️ That’s right, there is the potential to make this salad completely plant-based. Use the Magic Green Sauce (thinned a bit with water) for dressing and you’re in vegan business.
- CHEESE potential. 👌 Because honestly, there are times when you just can’t say no to those little fresh Mozzarella balls. Let’s set realistic expectations here.
- Reduces stress. 🌀 To make this salad, you’ll have to lift approximately three fingers for about five seconds. Get your zen on! Time to kick stressful salad-making to the curb.
- Happy face! 👻 You know those days when everything is going NOT right and you remember your most awesome lunch waiting for you in the fridge and you suddenly get a rush of happy brain chemicals? That’s this salad. Happy = healthy.
Real quick – the dressing situation.
Magic Green Sauce works great! 👇
And (surprise) so does the Avocado Cilantro Dressing! 👇
You can add or swap just about anything to this summer salad and it’s going to be great. Trust me because I’ve added every possible thing that I could have ever found in the fridge – pickled onions, crushed almonds, fresh sweet corn, sriracha, beans, leftover grilled brats, more veggies…
With a simple simple simple base of spinach, tricolor tomatoes, and quinoa, there’s nothing you can’t do.
(we’re chanting now) Fresh Start Mon-Day! Fresh Start Mon-Day! Fresh Start Mon-Day!
Green Goddess Quinoa Summer Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Green Goddess Quinoa Summer Salad – simple, healthy, and extremely adaptable to whatever veggies you have on hand! my family LOVES this recipe. vegetarian and can be made vegan.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa (I cook mine in the rice cooker with broth)
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup (or more, to taste) Magic Green Sauce or Avocado Cilantro Dressing
Add-ins
- fresh Mozzarella cheese, cut into bite sized pieces
- a few handfuls of crushed almonds or other nuts
- grilled veggies like asparagus or zucchini
- grilled chicken or other protein
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa in advance if you can – it tastes best when it’s had a few hours to cool.
- Toss all ingredients together to combine! If the Magic Green Sauce is too thick to toss together with the other ingredients, just add a little water or oil to the bowl and it should toss together smoothly.
Notes
I cook my quinoa in vegetable broth for more flavor, and I also cook twice the amount of quinoa I need for this recipe because I like to keep it in the fridge for the week!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 10% Total Fat 8.1g
- Daily value: 0% Cholesterol 0mg
- Daily value: 5% Sodium 114.1mg
- Daily value: 6% Total Carbohydrate 17.2g
- Daily value: 12% Dietary Fiber 3.4g
- Sugars 2.2g
- Daily value: 8% Protein 4.2g
- Daily value: 9% Vitamin A 82.8µg
- Daily value: 17% Vitamin C 15.4mg
- Daily value: 8% Potassium 361.2mg
- Daily value: 10% Phosphorus 130.6mg
Keywords: quinoa salad, healthy salad, salad recipe, summer salad, veggie salad
PS. In case you should think that this salad is only for people who like healthy food, I want you to know that we made this about five hundred times at the cabin this year when everyone from my 1-year-old nephew to my 13-year-old brother to my parents and even my grandparents joined the quinoa salad party. 🎉
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy gluten-free recipes. Check it out!
I’ve made this several times in the past and always love it! This time I substituted bulgar for quinoa because my husband is on a quinoa strike and it worked out surpassingly well.
Thank you for your valuable input, i love this recipe
Delicious, I will be making this a lot more this summer. I didn’t have cilantro so I used Thai Basil, so good. Thank you for sharing your great recipes.
Delicious recipe and easily customizable- a new staple in our house. Thanks!
Glad to hear it, Sarah!
How long can you keep The Master Green Sauce in the refrigerator before it goes bad?
Hi, Sharon! We’d say the Magic Green Sauce keeps best in the fridge for 3 days or so before it starts to brown from the avocado.
Oh okkkkkkkkkk. This was so so good. I used the magic green sauce (subbed marcona almonds for pistachios). Truly a gem of a salad. Made ahead of time for guests. Next time ill put some feta in there. YUMO!!
So glad you enjoyed this salad, Andrea!
Lindsay, we taste tested this and loved it. Would you be OK with us sharing on our hospital’s facebook page (green for St. Patrick’s day!!!) ? With credit to your site? Let me know, thank you!
Hi, Marilea! Yep, that’s totally okay as long as it’s just a link to the recipe and an image from the recipe and not the recipe written out fully. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I love quinoa salads, this is perfect with lots of delicious ingredients!
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I am being denied access to your Magic Green Sauce. Please send it to my email. Thank you!
I loved this recipe and the Avocado Cilantro dressing! I added some roasted broccoli, zucchini, sweet potato and chickpeas to the salad and was a hit at a potluck.
This is the first recipe on this site that I haven’t actually been a fan of. It kinda tasted like it was missing something… but idk what.
I want to make this for a potluck tomorrow Can it be made minus the greens and mixed together with the magic green dressing a day ahead then add the greens when you serve it? Thx in advance looks like yummy win win
Very nice
This looks SO good! I’m taking it to a dinner party tonight. Would it be best to wait to add the dressing until just before serving, or is it better to do it ahead of time for the flavors to marry? Thanks!
We like to add it right before serving!
I love the beautiful recipes photos and it seemed easy enough to make with all ingredients I like and usually have so I gave it a go. I chose the avocado cilantro dressing, and unfortunately I didn’t like it. It tastes too much like guacamole for me. I think see basil in the recipe photo counter top, I think that instead of the cilantro would have a better taste with the mozzarella and the tomatoes. Hope that helps!
How many servings is this? I want to make this heslthy dish for a high school reunion and im on a health kick well..its a lifestyle and i want to show it through my food!
This was FANTASTIC! I cooked the quinoa in advance over the weekend so this could make for a quick weekday dinner. In addition to the tomatoes and spinach, I added asparagus and goat cheese crumbles and used a full batch of your avocado-cilantro dressing. Amaaaaaaazing. Packed leftovers up for lunches, hoping the dressing doesn’t brown too much from the avocado. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Hi,I just came across this recipe in the search for a summer salad recipe I have to take to a Barbecue.
I wanted to ask,where do I get the Avocado Cilantro dressing from?Did you make it at home or got it from the store?And also for Mozzarella,do we use the shredded one?
Does this store well for leftovers? I like to make lots so that we can have leftovers for lunch the next day :).
Hi Heather! It does, but I would keep the dressing separate until eating. Also – since the dressing has avocado, it will start to brown after a few days!
This was amazing! I made this for company and there was nothing left. I could eat this every day. The Magic Green Sauce was out of this world!!!
Thanks,
sharing green goddess quinoa summer salad receipe. I tried it.It is good & tasty. Quinoa seeds are very healthy to body
It have a rich amount of fiber,antioxidants and iron
we provide the Organic Quinoa Seeds.so let’s start buy Quinoa seeds at Nourishyou
https://nourishyou.in/superfoods/quinoa-seeds/
GREAT SALAD
This looks like a great recipe! Wondering if you keep the magic green sauce separate if making the salad ahead of time for the week? Also how long does this salad stay good for?
Hi Kelly! Yes, we keep it separate. Since the dressing has avocado, it will only last for about 2-3 days before it’s too brown.
Is there an alternative dressing you’d recommend for this that doesn’t have cilantro? Everything else about the recipe looks great, but cilantro tastes like soap to me. 🙁
It won’t be quite the same, but you could sub in some parsley.