Easy to make in advance, and highly portable, this Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad is perfect for picnics and potlucks. Great as a vegetarian main or a hearty side salad, and ideal for lunch boxes.
Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad
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There is something magical about a tray of roasted vegetables. Take raw vegetables, subject them to a hot oven, and be rewarded with deeply flavorful nuggets that have infinite uses for the imaginative cook. Eat them on their own, as a simple side, tuck them into tarts, quiches or frittatas, blitz them quickly with a little stock into velvety soups or toss them through cooked grain for a hearty salad.
With very little effort, you can quickly have the base for an easy meal. For the Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad roughly chop your favorite vegetables, toss them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and slide the tray of vegetables into the oven. The vegetables sweeten in the oven, the heat concentrating the flavor and lightly caramelizing the edges, enabling you to put your feet up whilst the oven does the hard work.
This Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad is easily customized to suit your family’s tastes, and the herbs and vegetables you have on hand, so I really want you to consider this more a template than a recipe. Not a fan of beetroot or squash? Try slow roasted tomatoes, fennel, pumpkin or zucchini. Don’t like quinoa? No problems; use your favorite grain instead. Mix up the herbs according to what is is season. Use loads of basil and parsley in summer, or chives and coriander in winter. Or try dill, fennel or chervil for an aniseed twist.
Some form of this Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad appears regularly on our dinner table during the summer months. Whilst I prefer to roast my vegetables in the oven, I have also successfully used the BBQ when the summer becomes far too hot to even contemplate switching the oven on. It’s not only a summer salad though, and is just as good served warm during the cooler months.
The quinoa in the salad enables it to be served either as a great vegetarian main or a hearty side salad with a simple piece of grilled chicken or a steak. If the number of people at your dinner table suddenly increases, just cook more quinoa or roast more vegetables. Easy to make in advance, and highly portable, this roasted vegetable salad is perfect for picnics or potlucks. And as it will last for at least three days in the fridge, it is also perfect for tucking into lunch boxes through the week. Magic I tell you.
Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
To roast the vegetables
- A bunch of baby beetroot scrubbed and leaves removed
- 3 small sweet potatoes approx 1 lb, peeled and cut into 1" pieces.
- A bunch of baby carrots scrubbed and leaves removed
- 1 medium red onion peeled and cut into eight pieces
- 10 baby yellow squash approx 1/4 lb, halved
- 1 red pepper cut into 1" pieces
- Olive oil for roasting
- Salt & pepper
For the quinoa base
- 1 cup quinoa
- 5 - 6 Tablespoons chopped herbs I used parsley, basil and chives
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
To roast the vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 390F (355F fan forced).
- Place the baby beetroot into the centre of a large sheet of foil. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper, and scrunch the foil to enclose the beetroot. Place in the oven.
- Toss the sweet potato with olive oil, salt & pepper. Spread on a baking tray, and place in the oven. [See note 1]
- Toss the red onion with olive oil, salt & pepper. Place on a tray in the oven.
- Toss the carrots with olive oil, salt & pepper. Place on a tray in the oven.
- Toss the baby squash with olive oil, salt & pepper. Place on a tray in the oven.
- Toss the red pepper with olive oil, salt & pepper. Place on a tray in the oven.
- Cook the beetroot for approximately 45 minutes, or until a skewer easily pierces the beetroot. Remove from the oven, and open the foil packet to allow the beetroot to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the beetroot and cut them into quarters. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook the remaining vegetables until softened and lightly browned. My approximate cooking times are: sweet potato - 45 minutes, baby carrots - 30 minutes, red onion - 30 minutes, baby squash - 25 minutes, red pepper - 20 minutes.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven once cooked. Some vegetable pieces may cook faster than others, so remove these individually during the cooking time if necessary to prevent overcooking.
For the quinoa base
- While the vegetables are roasting, cook the quinoa according to packet directions.
- Place the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then whisk together. Set aside.
- Put the cooked quinoa and the chopped herbs into a large bowl.
- Season with salt & pepper, then toss the herbs lightly through the quinoa.
To finish the salad
- Add the warm vegetables to the quinoa.
- Pour the lemon dressing over the vegetables.
- Toss the vegetables through the quinoa to combine.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
The quantities of vegetables are not extremely important here. The salad is highly flexible and will work well with both fewer or more vegetables. Feel free to swap out the vegetables and herbs I have used for your favourites. The dressing is extremely tart when tasted on its own. This is deliberate, and the sharpness of the dressing will be balanced out by the sweetness of the roasted vegetables. I can only provide approximate cooking times in this recipe. Exact cooking times will depend on the type and freshness of your vegetables, and the size of the cut vegetables. Beetroot will turn your quinoa pink. If this bothers you, use more sweet potato and carrots instead.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
P.S. If you are a fan of quinoa salads, don’t forget to check out my Grilled Zucchini and Feta Quinoa Salad.
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