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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.