This quinoa salad with asparagus, sundried tomatoes, olives and pine nuts is one my new favorites. It’s light and zesty — exactly what I crave during the summer.
Before I get into the recipe, I really need to take care of a few housekeeping items that are long overdue! I guess you could call it my spring cleaning… in July! Better late than never, right? Here goes:
- Back in April, I was honored to win a spot in The Vegan Womanβs 2013 Vegan Food Blog Guide. I totally don’t feel worthy to be included among all those amazing vegan food bloggers, but I’m so proud to be included in the list once again this year and have finally updated the badge on the right-side of my site. If you aren’t already doing so, please take a moment to visit The Vegan Woman’s website, and “like” The Vegan Woman on Facebook. It’s a wealth of awesome and inspirational vegan info!
- Rika from Vegan Miam also honored me in April with aΒ Liebster Award. I won a Liebster Award a couple years ago, and rather than list an updated list of my 5 favorite blogs, I’m going to do a special post later this month about the many vegan resources that I read on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. In the meantime, I do want to say a big THANKS to Rika for the nomination. Check out Vegan Miam when you have a moment – it’s a great site. I wish I was as good as Rika in terms of documenting my vegan meals when I’m travelling!
OK – back to the salad! My mom clipped this recipe for me and we made it together the last time I was in town. She’s always clipping great recipes for us to try – she’s the best! We can’t quite remember, but we believe it’s from Style at Home magazine, and it was easy to make vegan.
Modifications to Original Recipe
- The original recipe has you toasting the quinoa first – I don’t see that as a necessary step for this recipe, so I’ve left that out in the instructions below
- We swapped the chicken broth with vegetable broth
- We reduced the red onion from a whole onion to 3/4 cup
- We increased the pine nuts from 3 tbsp to 4 tbsp (1/4 cup)
- We doubled the fresh oregano and basil from 1 tbsp of each to 2 tbsp of each
- We used whole Kalamata olives instead of pitted, because that’s what we had on hand
- We left-out the feta cheese (but you could use vegan feta or tofu feta)
My mom recently renovated her kitchen. Don’t you just love the counter top and those recycled glass back splash? I felt like we were cooking in a gorgeous French bistro!
Note — Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Sundried Tomatoes, Olives & Pine Nuts
This salad is best served immediately, while it’s still warm. However, it was still really good out of the fridge the following day…
More 30 minute recipes you’ll love
- Broccoli, Red Bell Pepper & Chickpea Salad
- Fresh Tomato, Basil and Lemon Zucchini Pasta
- Black & White Bean Quinoa Salad
- See all my 30 minute vegan recipes
Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Sundried Tomatoes, Olives & Pine Nuts
This zesty salad comes together nicely with mostly pantry ingredients. It’s vegan and gluten-free.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Salad, Main
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 large bunch asparagus, stalks cut off and cut into 1/2” pieces
- 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes packed in oil (about 8 sundried tomatoes), plus 2 tbsp oil (reserved to use in dressing)
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
- 3/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Dressing
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp reserved oil from sundried tomatoes
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the broth and quinoa to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, steam the asparagus for 2 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Transfer the asparagus to a colander and rinse under ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
- When quinoa is ready, remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. When cool, add the quinoa, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, olives and onions, and toss gently to combine. Top with toasted pine nuts and serve.
Notes
Adapted from recipe in Style at Home Magazine
Keywords: asparagus, basil, easy, favorite, gluten-free, low-carb, olive, pine nut, quinoa, soy-free, spring, stove top, sundried tomato, vegan, salad
I served this at a recent potluck with friends and it was a huge hit. Thank you!
★★★★★
I had planned pesto for dinner. I went to the fridge to find my basil was no good. I’d already toasted some basil, so I did a google search and thought I’d try this as I had all the ingredients. Wow!! I’m blown away. This is sooo yum. Thank you x
★★★★★
Hi from California! I just found your blog and I really love your style, so you’ve got another one hooked! Can anyone tell me how long this would keep in the fridge. I like to meal prep for the week on the weekends.
Hi Debra, thanks for the kind words. This would likely keep a week in the fridge. Hope that helps!
Hi, beautiful recipe. I would like to try this soon, but add a bean to make it heartier for lunch. any suggestions? Thank you!
I’d add a can of Cannellini (white) beans. Good luck!
Do you know the calorie content?
I notice you have 1/4C tbsp of pine nuts…. I’m guessing you just meant 1/4 c??
EEEK, that’s right. Recipe corrected. Thanks for reaching out!
I made it today, and its delicious! the flavor and mediterranean freshness is amazing, thank you.
★★★★★
I love those Mediterranean flavors! Glad you did too π
Hi there, this looks delicious! I was wondering if sunflower seeds could be used instead of pine nuts? Here in Northern Ireland pine nuts are so expensive!
★★★★★
Hi Mel! I would personally substitute toasted slivered almonds. I think that would compliment the flavors best π
Amazing recipe! This was delicious and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Although for me it’s definitely less than 8 servings haha – I could’ve eaten the whole thing in one go. Thanks, this one is a keeper!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! And yes, I tend to eat more than one serving too π
This looks terrific. I’m really into quinoa right now, but am getting a little tired of my tried-and-true quinoa,kale, and avocado salad. The asparagus seems like a nice, bright, change of pace. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sara, Let me know if you try it π
I love this recipe. I actually prefer it cold the next day. Really lovely. Thank you. π
★★★★★
Hey sis,
Mom made some for us the other night. Alexis and I plan on making it this weekend π
★★★★★
Hi little bro! Isn’t it the best? Mom always finds the best recipes. Thanks for stopping by and commenting π
Hi,
I noticed there was no instruction on when to add the onion. I’m assuming you would do this at the end.
Yes, you’re right! I will fix that now. Thanks for catching that and reporting it to me π
Thanks Wendy! I made this for my Sister, brother-in-law, husband and myself and we couldn’t stop eating it. Delicious!
★★★★★
Hi again Angela~
Just made this and it is SOOOO GOOOOOOOD! I added more lemon in the end, and halved the olives because I forgot that you hadn’t (oops!) This is something I will make again and again and will take to work for lunch.
Oh, and I agree with Joanne above about the appeal of your site and the presentation of the foods…
Brava!
★★★★★
Thanks Wendy! It’s one of my new favorite recipes too – so light and fresh. Thanks also for the kind words about my site. Very sweet!
It was a hit! Thanks, vegangela!
★★★★★
Definitely going to try this at a Potluck this weekend! Looking forward to it. Looks so fresh! Also looking forward to looking at More of your recipes. Sometimes I just run out of ideas for vegan food. Thanks!
Awesome. Let me know how it goes over. I think it would be perfect for a potluck π
Hi Angela- I have been a pescetarian for 17 yrs now, always looking for new recipes. I found you through the Quinoa Salad search. I just wanted to comment on the appeal of your site, the style in which you create, the photos and their clarity….simply awesome. Clean, crisp fresh look.. all of it. I will be adding you and your tastey cooking ideas to my fav’s. Thank you very much for your hard work! Ps..Your mom’s kitchen looks fab!!
Thanks so much for the kind words about my blog. And I’ll let my mom know about her kitchen π Let me know which recipes you try!
Angela-
I did make the Quinoa Salad and it was…. magnifico! I will say the longer the salad has a chance to marry and absorb all of the flavors, the better it will taste.
Thank you-
Joanne
★★★★★
Hey that looks super tasty! Lovely addition with the asparagus! π I’ll have to make this for sure! Thank you for posting something so yummy!
You’re so welcome. Thanks for stopping by π
I have been totally into quinoa salads this summer, and this one looks like a great addition to my limited repertoire. I’ve been trying to cut back on oils but this recipe looks too good to pass up. And it’s only a little bit of oil from the Sun-dried tomatoes.
Hi Debby – Thanks for stopping by. You’re right, it’s not really that much oil – the dressing is really mostly lemon juice. Let me know if you try it π
it looks just the thing for summer – I am avoiding salads because it is so cold today but have to try some ice cream I made for a blog event and the heater is on and I am freezing – but would love some of your gorgeous asparagus – looks so good
Oh I remember the cold Aussie winters with no central heating! Thanks for stopping by and bundle up for warmth, lady π
Yum! This is on my lunch list for next week. Thank you for sharing!
Awesome! Let me know what you think of it… it’s my new favorite thing π
Well, I know what I’m making this weekend!
Yay! Let me know what you think of it. It’s my new favorite π
I love quinoa salads and this one is a winner – looks great!
Thank you!