Rainbow Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing

Vegan, gluten-free and so delicious, this Healthy Rainbow Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing is perfect for meal prep and requires no reheating!

Rainbow Quinoa Salad

I’ve been making rainbow salads for my daughter Madison since she was very little. She often asks me to prepare them, so I always have a colorful selection of veggies on hand. I change it up, sometimes using radishes instead of tomatoes or green olives instead of cucumbers. Honestly, I use whatever is in my fridge! Quinoa salads are the perfect lunch or potluck side dish, and some of my other favorites include this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Avocado Quinoa Salad, and Black Bean Quinoa Salad.

What Are the Benefits of Eating Quinoa?

Although quinoa is technically a seed, it’s a grain that’s high in protein and fiber. It’s also a complete protein, meaning it “contains all nine essential amino acids that our bodies can’t make on its own.” A cup of cooked quinoa provides about eight grams of protein and five grams of fiber. It’s also high in other nutrients, including magnesium, iron, fiber, and manganese.

Do you eat quinoa salad cold or warm?

You eat this Rainbow Quinoa Salad cold, which makes it perfect for making ahead because you don’t have to reheat it.

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

• Andean millet: You will need four cups of cooked quinoa, which is about a cup and a half of uncooked quinoa.
• Vegetables: Shredded Brussels sprouts, red cabbage and carrots, yellow peppers, mini cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
• lemon dressing: Lemon juice, olive oil, salt and black pepper

How to cook quinoa for salad

Properly cooking quinoa for salads is important to avoid soggy quinoa. If you cook it on the stove, use less water than the package recommends. For 1 cup of raw quinoa, use 1 ¾ cup of water or broth (not 2 cups as the instructions say). You can also make it in the Instant Pot if you prefer.

How to make quinoa salad

• Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.
• Put on a cup of quinoa place in each of the four bowls and top with a quarter of the veggies in rainbow order, starting with purple and ending with red.
• Pour the dressing Pour over the salads and season with salt and pepper if needed.

How Many Days Is Quinoa Salad Good For?

Rainbow quinoa salad keeps in the fridge for up to five days. Prepare it in four, two-cup containers and eat it for lunch all week long.

Variations:

• For extra protein, add some black beans or chickpeas. If you want to add meat, diced chicken breast or eggs would work.
• substitute red or tricolor quinoa.
• Use green olives or jalapenos instead of cucumbers.
• If you can not find Mini Cucumbersuse one large English cucumber.
• If you don’t mind your salad being short in a rainbow color, red or orange peppers works if you don’t have yellow.
• substitute Cocktail Tomatoes for cherry.
• To save time: Use the shredding disc on your food processor to quickly shred Brussels sprouts, cabbage and carrots. You can also buy them pre-shredded at the supermarket.
• Cheese: Garnish the quinoa salad with feta or goat cheese.
• Herbs: Add fresh herbs like basil or parsley.
• Serve it to a crowd and mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. You can also easily double or triple the recipe.

More Quinoa Recipes You’ll Love:

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