This is a dish for those of us who like a lot of stuff in our salads. We’re talking minimum lettuce and maximum fun: fresh berries, salty sunflower seeds, sweet and peppery basil, gorgonzola cheese, and quinoa. All of the add-ins make for a slightly heartier salad packed with texture, plus the added bonus of antioxidants from all the berries. And if you have excess berries, try our berry cobbler recipe too. It’s always a hit, especially in the summer. Cobbler and this salad would pair well together for Memorial Day Weekend events. If you need more inspiration, here are some favorite Memorial Day recipes.
This Berry Quinoa Salad Is:
Carefree Cold + perfect for summertime Fresh + colorful (quinoa turns a lovely shade of pink from the raspberries) Healthy Flavorful
Fresh Berry Quinoa Salad Details
Texture: With juicy berries, creamy gorgonzola, and crunchy seeds, this recipe is destined for textural greatness. It may seem like a lot is going on, but there’s an element of surprise with every bite and it really works. (By the way, if you love texture in your salads, you’ll enjoy this blood orange avocado quinoa salad, this strawberry bacon salad, and in the fall, this maple-roasted squash kale salad.) Flavor: The dressing is 4 ingredients, and I bet you have them all handy: olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, honey, and a pinch of salt. There’s nothing to take away from the fresh berry flavors, but everything to complement them. And it’s not weighed down with dressing, either. Just a light and bright coat to bring the components together. Ease: This is a 2-step recipe! Combine the ingredients and then refrigerate for a day or so to marry the flavors. Except for pre-cooking the quinoa, there’s hardly any prep work. Time: Prep will take you 5-10 minutes, plus the chilling time in the refrigerator.
Berry Quinoa Salad is a Perfect Make Ahead Dish
Besides the healthy + delicious + easy trifecta, we also need to discuss the make-ahead factor. This fresh berry quinoa salad is even better on days 2 and 3 after the flavors develop and marry. (Same goes for creamy chicken pasta salad, too.) So when you don’t feel like making anything for dinner, this is already magically prepared in the refrigerator. (Because you spent 5 minutes to “make it” the day before. Don’t you love that?)
Berry Swap: By the way, you can swap berries for whatever is local and in season, so long as the final combination amounts to 3 cups in total.
One last thing. Let’s break the rules a little bit and eat this salad with a big spoon. A spoon gives you more opportunity for maximum stuff and assures a little bit of everything with each bite. If you have leftover quinoa after making this salad, try my quinoa patties next.
Serve this Quinoa Salad With:
Grilled Chicken + Asparagus (how I usually serve it) Jalapeno Turkey Burgers or Caprese Chicken Burgers Black Bean Burgers Cilantro Lime Chicken Honey Chipotle Salmon Zucchini Ricotta Flatbread or Zucchini Casserole
For even more inspiration here are 15+ summer dinner ideas! Equally summery + delicious + easy + texture party-ish: southwestern chopped chicken salad!
