Summer Sprouted Quinoa Salad
A juicy and delicious freshly sprouted quinoa summer salad filled with cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber and fresh herbs. Topped with a quick vegan cashew cheese.
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Equipment
- Chopping board.
- Paring knife.
- citrus juicer
- Food processor with an s-blade.
- Spatula.
- Ice cube tray
- Garlic crusher
- Glass jar with a lid
- mixing bowl.
- Wooden spoon.
Ingredients
For the vegan cashew cheese
- 70 g cashew nuts
- juice of ½ a lemon
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the dressing
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
- 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove (crushed)
- a good pinch of salt and pepper
For the salad
- 100 g freshly sprouted quinoa (see my recipe How to Sprout Quinoa)
- 130 g cherry tomatoes (a large handful)
- 50 g kalamata olives
- 60-70 g cucumber
- 1 very small red onion
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano (finely sliced)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 small handful fresh basil leaves (torn)
To garnish
- 2-3 tablespoon microgreens or alternatively a few small basil leaves
Instructions
To make the cashew cheese
- Place the nut cheese ingredients into a food processor with an s-blade and blend until smooth. Using a spatula, occasionally pause to scrape the mixture from the sides back into the middle and mix until it's completely smooth in texture (approximately 5 minutes).
- Scrape the mixture into a silicone ice cube tray. Place into a freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up into little 'feta' shape cubes. Once done, remove it from the freezer and turn out onto a plate. Slice them into smaller pieces for your salad, if desired.
To make the dressing
- While the nut based 'cheese' is in the freezer, prepare the rest of the salad. Peel the garlic and crush it into tiny pieces using the garlic crusher, then add them to a jar.
- Pour the extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar into the jar and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Screw the lid on, then shake it, so the salad dressing emulsifies. Put it to one side.
To make the salad
- Peel the red onion and slice off the ends. With a paring knife, slice it very finely into half moon shapes. Halve the cherry tomatoes and finely dice the cucumber.
- Take each herb and remove the leaves from their stems. Finely slice the oregano and roughly chop the basil.
- Add freshly sprouted quinoa to a medium-sized mixing bowl with the salad vegetables, olives and herbs.
- Drizzle over 3 tablespoons of the dressing and mix together gently. Do a quick taste test and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
- Divide the salad onto 2 serving plates. Top each dish with a few pieces of cashew cheese, and sprinkle over some microgreens or more herbs. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side and use as needed.
Notes
This recipe for cashew cheese is quick and straightforward, and it makes more than is needed here. However, any leftover can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. (Psst. It's excellent spread onto crackers and topped with pickles.)
While I love fresh oregano sprinkled over salads, many people find it overpowering and prefer to use a pinch of dried oregano instead.
Don't use uncooked dried quinoa. Quinoa must be either cooked as per the packet instructions before using or alternatively it may be sprouted. If you'd like to know how sprout quinoa please see my post How To Sprout Quinoa.
Tried this recipe?Please let me know in the comments below