A lightly sweet cumin-spiced dressing fills this arugula salad with flavor, while avocado, apricots, quinoa & chickpeas make it hearty & satisfying.
I’ll never get tired of an arugula salad with avocado and quinoa. They’re probably my favorite three ingredients to use. I love this sweet combo of dried apricots, peppery arugula, smoky cumin, and fruity Arbequina Olive Oil. (I almost named this Arbequina Quinoa – but try to say that one five times fast).
The Key to a Good Arugula Salad is a Good Dressing
The cumin-spiced salad dressing really makes this salad shine, and its key ingredient is Arbequina Olive Oil. So what’s Arbequina Olive Oil? It’s a light and fruity extra-virgin olive oil that’s perfect for flavorful dressings like this one. Coincidentally, I’ve been buying it long before the folks at California Olive Ranch started sending it to me. Try it, I promise you’ll love it. (I usually get mine at Whole Foods). You can also use any quality extra-virgin olive oil in this recipe.
The dressing here is a simple Moroccan-inspired combination of cumin, garlic, lemon, and honey. If you’re vegan, you can use maple syrup in place of the honey, and the dressing will still have the sweet, spiced flavor that perfects this salad. Its flavor is especially good against the chewy dried apricots and toasted almonds.
If you love salads as much as I do, check out many many more in the salad section of our recipe index!
Arugula Salad with Quinoa, Apricot & Avocado
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- juice of 1 medium lemon
- ½ to 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup, if vegan
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chopped chives
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup chickpeas, drained, rinsed
- a few big handfuls of arugula
- ¼ cup dried apricots
- 1 small avocado, cubed
- ¼ cup chopped, toasted almonds
- ¼ cup chopped chives
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lemon, honey, cumin, chives, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss together the quinoa, chickpeas, arugula, dried apricots, and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Drizzle in ¾ of the dressing and toss again. Top with the avocado, chopped almonds, chives, and drizzle the remaining dressing. Season to taste and serve.
I’m making this this week, beautiful!
Everything looks so delicious here,
your blog is on my fav 🙂
http://enwellove.blogspot.fr
I haven’t heard of Arbequina but it sounds amazing!
I am so looking forward to putting this on my families dinner menu! Looks so good.
This is such an amazing salad! Love the summery notes of the olive oil and the quinoa! Delicious!
Mmm, this is making me hungry right now! Love all of the flavors in this, I’ll have to try it once I get my hands on some fresh veggies. 🙂
Girl, this salad looks beautiful!
This is a giant bowl of good health! Holy smackeroonie this looks yummy!
This looks wonderful! What a perfect spring salad.
xx gemma @ gemmachew.com
I luuuuuurv CA Olive Ranch oils. Such a robust flavor. This salad looks like a perfect way to use it!
Ohhhh my goodness, this looks delicious. I may have to give this a go.
Unfortunately, I’m allergic to apricots. It sounds delicious, even without them… but might you have any ideas for a substitute?
Maybe some dried mango or pineapple or something, I don’t know. Hmmm.
absolutely – dried mango would be lovely, I also love to use currants as a little pop of sweetness…
Dried mango! what a great idea! I live in Costa Rica where dried apricots are the price of gold and mangoes litter the ground. I love the idea of drying them. I also grow arugula all year round.This salad sounds fantastic, will try asap, it’s always summer here!
I love arugula based salads. I think this is going to be on the lunch roster very soon! Excellent addition of almonds and apricots 🙂
Who said you can’t make 100 different kinds of salad with arugula, avocado and quinoa? I do not oppose to that idea at all. I am not a healthy person, so by coming to your blog & see your beautiful salads etc., those photos & recipes encourage me to eat better, and I thank you for that 🙂
I have not tried California Olive Ranch Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil before, but I might give it a try once I use up mine 🙂
This is a gorgeous looking salad that is completely up my alley! I make a cumin lentil soup with dried apricots, so I know how good the cumin-apricot pairing is. I could eat this kind of quinoa salad every day! Nice one!
Could you send me your cumin lentil soup with dried apricots recipe please? Sounds yummy! Thank you.
Hi Connie, here you go. Let me know how you like it! http://www.wholenourishment.net/blog/2013/10/lazy-lentils-with-cumin-and-dried.html
Oh wow! Ive had alot of dried apricots in my pantry that Ive been wanting to put to good use!
Yes please! You can’t go wrong with quinoa, arugula, avocado, and toasted almonds. I’m interested to see how they complement the apricot. 🙂
I’ve been taste-testing different olive oils lately and there’s a huge variety I didn’t know about before. The “Arbequina” olive oil sounds like it would be lovely here.
Do you not prefer unsulfured apricots? I think they’re much yummier 🙂
I will have to give this combo a try – love the pairing of salty and sweet and peppery arugula. The olive oil sounds like a great addition too – I’ll have to check it out!!
This salad’s looking great! I can’t wait to try the recipe, it’ll be perfect for a nice, warm summer evening!
I am just back from a 1-month holiday and this salad looks like the perfect way to get back into healthy eating. Lovely.