Orange Cranberry Quinoa Salad

New Year, New YOU

Looking for recipes after holiday indulgence? Eating healthy is one of your goals in 2020? Then this cranberry orange quinoa salad recipe if for you! 😌 Whether you are vegan or not, this salad is perfect if you are tired of having non-filling and bland salads. Eating clean doesn’t have to be boring and tasteless. Check here for more vegan salad inspirations! 🙌🏻

Filling, Nutritious and A Burst of Flavors

This cranberry orange quinoa salad is refreshing, full of flavors and texture. The nuttiness of pumpkin seeds complimented the fluffiness of quinoa, while the sweetness of dried cranberry balances out the tanginess from orange and apple cider vinegar. Thus, I can guarantee you that no one will miss the taste of meat while they are enjoying this appetizer.

Since this orange cranberry quinoa salad is so easy to make ahead of time, it’s no wonder that it has become one of my staple recipe. I love making a large batch of this at the beginning of the week, because then I will have this amazing salad sitting in the fridge ready for me to consume anytime I want. Most importantly, the longer it sits, the more flavors it will develop and hence the tastier it is. Therefore, if you are making this to a gathering I recommend you make it in the morning. Because then you will have a few hours for the flavors to develop before “wowing’ your friends and families with this scrumptious salad. 😌

Highly Customisable

like most of my recipes, this cranberry orange quinoa salad is highly customisable. Feel free to substitute quinoa with other grains such as barley and brown rice. You can even use pasta instead of grains if that’s what you like. Cranberries can be replaced with raisins or chopped figs. And of course, if you don’t like pumpkin seeds, you can easily swap them out with sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds.

Orange Cranberry Quinoa Salad

Recipe by Angie @ The Floral VeganCourse: AppetizersCuisine: SaladDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried quinoa*

• 2 cups vegetable stock/ water

• 2 shallots (chopped)

• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries**

• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds***

• 1 cup chickpeas

• Dressing

• Juice of 1 orange

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 garlic clove (minced)

• 1 Tbsp liquid amino

• Pinch of black pepper

Directions

• Rinse the quinoa under running water and drain it. Cook it with 2 cups of vegetable stock using your preferred method. I used a rice cooker to cook it.
• After the quinoa was cooked, uncover and let rest for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let it cool completely.
• While the quinoa is cooking, mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
• Once the quinoa was cooled, add the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour in the dressing and mix until everything is incorporated.

Notes

• * You can substitute quinoa with other grains such as barley and brown rice.
• ** Can be replaced with raisins or chopped figs
• *** Substitute with sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds if you don’t like pumpkin seeds.