Spring never ceases to inspire me, with the abundance of colour and aliveness. This is my gorgeous spring-inspired salad – bursting with freshness, flavour and health.
Makes 6-8 portions
Ingredients:
• 2 cups quinoa
• 100g low-fat goat’s cheese (I used Fairview Chevin), broken into bite-size pieces
• 300g cherry tomatoes, halved and baked with thyme
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1 packet pitted olives, chopped
• 2 ripe avocados, halved and cut into cubes
• ½ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• ½ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
• ½ cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 6 spring onions, finely sliced
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• Edible flowers, optional
Vinaigrette:
• ⅔rd olive oil (I used extra-light)
• ⅓rd fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp. fresh chopped garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Check seasoning and adjust
Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2 Place tomato halves onto a greased oven tray; sprinkle with thyme leaves, salt and pepper, and bake for 20 mins or until soft and slightly brown.
Cooking quinoa:
1 Place quinoa in a pot and add 4 cups water; use the same size measuring cup for the water. Add salt to season the water.
2 Bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer, until all the water has been absorbed. Mix with a fork.
3 Once absorbed, switch off the heat. Place a lid on the pot and allow the quinoa to steam for 15 mins.
Assembling:
1 Transfer quinoa to a big bowl and dress with the vinaigrette – reserve a little for later.
2 Add the chopped herbs.
3 Add the olives and baked cherry tomatoes.
4 Add spring onion and red onion.
5 Pour over a tiny bit more vinaigrette and mix well.
6 Add the goat’s cheese and avocado – do not mix now.
7 Garnish with edible flowers.
Dee’s notes:
• Once the avocado and goat’s cheese are in the salad, do not mix further. It will go mushy.
• Allow the quinoa to cool before adding the herbs.
• Try adding a bit of mint.
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