Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans

Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans includes some of the best ingredients of Spring and Summer.

But you don’t have to wait until the new season’s peas and broad beans are available to make it. That’s because frozen versions, available all year round, can be excellent quality and value.

In this satisfying quinoa salad there’s also juicy roasted tomatoes and crunchy toasted pine nuts. A vibrant fresh mint vinaigrette completes the dish.

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QUINOA

I’m a relatively new convert to quinoa. I tried this seed-used-as-a-grain a few years ago and couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.

But I’ve recently become a real fan and now eat the protein-rich seeds regularly, including as a great base for this Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans.

You can buy white, red and black quinoa, with the latter being less widely available. I’m not sure there’s any great difference in taste, but tend to buy white and red separately then mix them as I fancy. You might also come across packs which contain all three colours.

I’ve discovered that quinoa freezes really well, so always make a double batch and store half in the freezer. Cooked quinoa will also be fine in the fridge for a couple of days, ready to serve with stews, curries and chillies, in salads or to add to porridge.

INSTANT POT QUINOA

I started to use quinoa more frequently when I realized it’s really easy to cook in my Instant Pot pressure cooker.

Yes, I understand it may appear odd to use a pressure cooker for something that’s done in ten to twenty minutes anyway. But, providing you use the correct ratio of quinoa to water, in the pressure cooker the texture is perfect every time. The same goes for cooking rice in the Instant Pot.

When I’m cooking quinoa or rice, I tend to measure by volume rather than weight.

For a batch of quinoa to serve four (the Quinoa Salad recipe only needs two portions, so you’ll have two left over to freeze or eat within a day or so) you’ll need 1 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water. To speed things up even more, I use boiling water from a kettle.

See Recipe Notes included in the recipe card for cooking the quinoa by weight rather than volume, and for cooking in a saucepan.

 

Before you start, give the quinoa a good rinse in a sieve under running water then put it in the Instant Pot. Add a little salt, a teaspoon of olive oil, the boiling water, then give it all a good stir. Once the lid is on, ensure the lever is pointing to ‘sealing’ and cook on manual for ONE minute.

When the cooking time is up, leave for EIGHT minutes before carefully releasing the remaining pressure by pointing the lever to ‘venting’. When you take off the lid, your quinoa should be perfectly cooked. Leave to cool before making the salad.

PEAS & BROAD BEANS

If you’ve access to fresh, seasonal peas and broad beans then by all means use them in this salad. Just simmer in lightly salted water until tender, drain in a sieve and cool under running tap water.

If you’re using frozen peas and broad beans, then they’ll need barely any cooking at all. They’ll be done in a few minutes. The broad beans, providing they’re baby ones, will need just a minute or so longer than the peas.

Although the skins on baby broad beans are not as tough as those on older ones, I still like to remove them. Not just because this reveals their bright green colour, but because they soak up flavours and dressings much better without their skins.

It might seem like too finicky a task to bother. But try to think of it like shelling fresh peas i.e. something enjoyable, to be done in a leisurely way, rather than as a chore.

After cooling the beans, lightly squeeze each one between your thumb and forefinger. The skin should split and the shiny bean just pop out. If it doesn’t, try making a little nick with your thumbnail first.

ROASTED TOMATOES

Besides the herby dressing we’re going to add, one of the things that gives juiciness to the Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans is roasted cherry tomatoes.

You could just add fresh tomatoes, but roasting them first with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar will bring much more flavour to the salad. Be sure not to leave all the lovely cooking juices in the roasting tray either – stir them into the quinoa too.

HERB DRESSING

To add to the Spring and Summery feel, what could be better than a dressing based on fresh garden herbs?

Here, I’ve used that classic accompaniment to peas, mint. But chives or basil would also work.

All you do is whizz together a big handful of the herbs, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and a clove of garlic.

Add a little sweetener  if you like; I used maple syrup. If you don’t have a blender, chop everything finely and shake in a jar.

For a change, you could use lemon juice instead of vinegar.

QUINOA SALAD WITH PEAS & BROAD BEANS

After you’ve prepared all the elements of the quinoa salad, the rest is just assembly.

Get yourself a big bowl and add the cooked quinoa. Next, gently stir in the prepared peas and broad beans along with the roasted tomatoes and their juices.

For texture, I like to include some seeds or nuts. Toasted pine nuts are good, as are hazelnuts.

All that’s left to do then is toss the quinoa salad with the herb dressing and serve. Add a scattering of mint, or whichever herb you’ve used in the dressing, over the top.

While the salad is good on its own, I like it as part of a larger meal, perhaps with some greens and a cheese like feta or baked halloumi.

As I write this, we’re in English asparagus season and a few stems are a great favourite alongside. After a brief simmer, I lightly char the asparagus in a pan with olive oil.

Right now, I’m crazy about homegrown pea shoots and they go really well with this salad.

All together, I wonderful combination of the fresh flavours of Spring and Summer.

Print

Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans

Quinoa Salad with Peas & Broad Beans plus juicy roasted tomatoes, crunchy toasted pine nuts & a fresh mint vinaigrette is perfect for spring & summer.

Course Main Course, Salad, Light Meal

Cuisine Vegetarian, Vegan, plant-based

Keyword quinoa salad

Servings 2

Ingredients

For the roasted tomatoes

• 200 g cherry tomatoes, halved appox 18 cherry tomatoes
• 0.5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste

For the herb dressing

• 1 handful fresh herbs, e.g. mint or basil leaves, chives
• 1 small clove garlic
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp mild vinegar e.g. cider or white wine
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp sweetener e.g. maple syrup, sugar, honey optional

• 200 g broad beans, frozen or podded if fresh
• 160 g peas, fresh or frozen
• 275 g cooked quinoa see Recipe Notes below
• 30-40 g pinenut or hazelnuts toasted
• 1 tbsp chopped or torn herbs e.g. mint, basil or chives

Instructions

For the roasted tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 6
   

2. Place the halved cherry tomatoes, cut side up, on a shallow baking tray.

   Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar then season with salt & pepper.

   Roast until starting to colour (approx 6 min), turn then roast for a further 3-4 min.

   Set aside.
   

For the herb dressing

1. Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a blender and whizz to combine.

   If you've no blender, chop the ingredients finely and shake together in a jar.
   

   Set aside.
   

For the rest of the salad

1. Put boiling water from a kettle into a saucepan, with a little salt if liked.

   For frozen broad beans & peas:

   Add the broad beans and simmer for 2 min. Add the peas and simmer for 1 more minute.
   

   For fresh broad beans & peas:

   Cook in simmering water until completely tender (depending on size and age, approximately 3-10 min).
   

2. Drain the beans and peas in a sieve under running tap water until they're cold.
   

3. Remove the skins from the broad beans (optional but highly recommended) by gently squeezing between your fingers. Discard the skins.

   Set the beans and peas aside.

4. Take a large bowl and tip in the cooked quinoa, the broad beans and peas, the roasted tomatoes (including any cooking juices) and the toasted pine nuts or hazelnuts.
   

5. Gently toss with two-thirds of the herb dressing.

   Serve with the rest of the dressing drizzled over, plus the chopped or torn herbs.
   

Recipe Notes

Cooking quinoa

I find the easiest way to get perfectly cooked quinoa is in my Instant Pot (IP) pressure cooker. Put equal amounts by volume (e.g. a cup of each) of quinoa and boiling water in the IP along with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of olive oil. Stir, put on the lid then cook under pressure for 1 minute. Leave for 8 minutes then release any existing pressure. Cool before using in the salad.

If you're cooking the quinoa in a saucepan, use TWICE the amount of water to quinoa (e.g. 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water). Bring to a simmer and cook gently, without a lid, until the quinoa is tender and the water absorbed (10-20 minutes). Take off the heat, put a lid on and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Weight vs Volume

If you cook quinoa by weight rather than volume, note that 1 cup weighs approximately 200-220g. This will give you around 550g of cooked quinoa, enough for 4 portions. You will only need half this amount for the recipe. Freeze the remainder, or refrigerate and use within 2 days.