My dear friend Monica introduced me to cold quinoa salad recently, and I’ve spent the last four months or so trying to create the ultimate recipe. I’ve come a long way from just tossing a couple veggies and whatever quinoa was on sale with some apple cider vin and olive oil.
My final recipe is a masterpiece. This is by far the best quinoa salad I have ever had, and possibly one of the best salad’s I’ve ever had.
The magic is in the dressing, which I can’t take total credit for. Jennifer Harris, local queen of fermentation and pickling, showed me how to make dressing with sauerkraut. The recipe here is my edited version.
The latest edit to this dish is the roasted brussels sprouts. It’s my go-to veggie that always pleases my household and takes 5 seconds to make. (That’s not true it takes like 20 min, but it can be done while multitasking.)
I started with roasting the brussels and letting them cool. Then I made the quinoa, transferred to a large bowl and then stuck in the fridge to chill. This recipe is NOT good if the quinoa hasn’t completely chilled so be patient.
While all be chillin’, make your dressing and chop your veggies.
This recipe makes A LOT of food so use your biggest bowl to mix. Toss all your ingredients and enjoy! This recipe is easily made vegan if you sub vegetable stock for the chicken stock when making the quinoa.
To make a meal out of it, cook up some chicken sausage on the side, and bam, happy and full household!
Ingredients:
For The Roasted Brussels Sprouts:
-Approx. 20 Brussels sprouts
-1 TBSP olive oil
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
Preheat over to 400 degrees. Peel and quarter the sprouts, toss sprouts in oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast for approx. 12-15 min or until golden brown around the edges. Set aside.
For the Quinoa:
-3 cups of quinoa ( I used 1.5 cups of sprouted quinoa because its easier to digest and 1.5 cups of red quinoa, strictly because it looks cool.)
-1.5 cups of chicken stock and 1.5 cups of filtered water. (sub vegetable stock to make this recipe vegan.)
Lightly toast the dry quinoa in a large skillet, stirring frequently so they don’t burn. You will start to smell a toasted, nutty aroma and eventually hear a bit of crackling. That’s when you know its time to add the liquid. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for 15 min. Do not over-cook. Al dente quinoa is better than mushy, especially for this dish. Put in fridge to chill.
For the Dressing:
- 1 cup of Bubbies Sauerkraut ( I only use traditional, fermented sauerkraut.)
- 2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp mustard (Any kind will work, but I like to use Dijon.)
- 1 TBSP local honey
- 2 TBSP olive oil
Blend dressing ingredients in a magic bullet or food processor until most of the kraut chunks are blended thoroughly.
For the Salad:
- 1 small stalk of broccoli , chopped
- 1/2 of a small head of purple cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, sliced
- a handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
- avocado, sliced to your preference
Throw it all together and toss well with a little S & P to taste! Test out the recipe and let me know how it turns out!