A zesty, nutty lemon-walnut dressing brightens this hearty vegetarian salad. Filled with herbs & veggies, this salad makes a healthy weeknight dinner.
My role this week while my dad is visiting = food machine. Which I don’t mind one bit… he’s been hard at work knocking tasks off our “house-to-do” list, and I’m more than happy to be doing the heavy cooking rather than the heavy lifting. I can’t get him to stop for lunch (unless you count the beer… liquid lunch) so for dinners, big bowls of substantial food are in order.
I made this quinoa & chickpea salad the other night with some other stuff I happened to have, including beautiful radishes from my CSA box. And I always seem to have some walnuts and lemons around. And some nice walnut oil to enhance the nutty flavor.
Lemon-Walnut Quinoa & Chickpea Salad
- 2 tablespoons walnut oil
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon honey, agave, or brown rice syrup
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- 2 cups arugula or other leafy greens
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 cups just-cooked quinoa
- ½ can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (3/4 cup)
- 3 or 4 radishes, sliced
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup chopped chives
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ¼ cup cotija, ricotta salata, or feta cheese, chopped*
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- Make the dressing: Whisk together the walnut oil, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, honey, and pinches of salt and pepper. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the arugula and garlic followed by your cooked warm quinoa. Toss until incorporated. The arugula will wilt slightly, which is what you want. (If you’re using salad greens, I would wait to add them until the end, I like arugula slightly wilted, salad greens, not. Raw slightly-wilted kale would also be good here).
- Add the chickpeas, radishes, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts, chives, basil, and cheese to the bowl and pour the dressing on top. Toss and taste. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- I finished this with another drizzle of walnut oil and some shaved parmesan over individual bowls.
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I’ve just made this and it was a gourmet experience. Lovely dish. Thanks again.
Made it yesterday for lunch and it was divine! Loved it! I will definitely make it again (and soon :D)
made this the other night and it was amazing! I added some chopped walnuts to the salad. Had it for dinner and lunch the next day. can’t wait to make it again!
Thanks for sharing – I actually had chopped walnuts too but just realized that I left them out of the recipe by accident :). Love that crunch…
Yum! This is exactly how I love to eat. Fresh and vibrant salads, nom nom. I dont eat enough quinoa.
This is just the kind of simple dish I love to cook on weeknights. Gorgeous.
Been on a quinoa quick lately- YUM!
I, too, adore the combination of quinoa with the crunch of nuts. One of my recent favorites is quinoa plus pistachios. I also love how filling the combo is, and how it balances my blood sugar every time. Nice.
This sounds so yummy! Love it!
I want to come over and help so I can eat all your dishes. Yum, yum!
I am so glad I stumbled upon your blog. You take the lovliest food photos and everything looks so delicious! 🙂
thank you so much!
This sounds like a wonderful mix of vegetables and grains! A perfect dinner for those fast-approaching hot summer nights. 🙂
This definitely looks like my kind of summer salad! Absolutely delicious and fresh! Although I agree, I’d rather do heavy cooking than heavy lifting… 😉