Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
on Oct 20, 2024
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Ready in 20 minutes, this roasted broccoli quinoa salad is fresh, filling and easy salad recipe. While the broccoli florets roast in the oven, you can simmer the quinoa on the stove and make the lemon vinaigrette. Then you toss the vegetables and quinoa with baby arugula, pistachios, sliced scallions and fresh parsley. This simple vegan salad has so much good taste and crunch.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You can make it in 20 minutes. One of the many reasons to love broccoli is that it roasts in just 8-10 minutes in a 425-degree F oven.
Even through the broccoli roasts quickly, that still gives you time to multitask. Go ahead and simmer the quinoa and make the vinaigrette. Then you can toss everything together.
Enjoy this quinoa recipe warm, at room temperature or even cold. That’s why I love it for meal prep. This is a salad recipe that tastes great as leftovers.
The Ingredients
This is what you you need:
- Broccoli crowns should be tightly packed together and green. Skip bunches that are yellowing because they aren’t as fresh. You can buy broccoli that’s already cut into florets or do it yourself.
- Quinoa: You can see that I used a blend of white, red and black quinoa. I love all that color, but any kind of quinoa will work. I simmer it in water.
- Arugula: I love the peppery flavor of baby arugula. You can substitute with spinach or use a mix of both.
- Pistachios give this salad crunch. You can use shelled roasted pistachios that are salted or lightly salted.
- Scallions add mild green onion flavor to the salad.
- Parsley: For fresh herbs, I stir in chopped parsley leaves. You could also include chives.
- Olive oil: I toss the broccoli in oil before it roasts.
- Kosher salt and black pepper season the florets for roasting.
- Lemon vinaigrette: The dressing includes minced garlic, whole grain mustard, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
How To Make This Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
1. Prep the broccoli. Toss the broccoli florets with oil, salt and pepper. Do this on a sheet pan and then spread them into a single layer.
2. Roast the broccoli. This will only take 8-10 minutes to turn out crisp-tender. They will get bright green and the parts touching the pan will lightly brown.
3. Simmer the quinoa on the stove. Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. The water should absorb and the grains should be tender in 11-12 minutes. Let the quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
4. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil.
5. Assemble the salad. Put the quinoa, roasted broccoli, arugula, scallions, pistachios and parsley in a large bowl.
6. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss to combine.
Serving
As mentioned, you can enjoy this salad as a side dish or a main dish. Pair it with soup such as chickpea soup, roasted tomato soup, slow-cooker vegetable stew or rosemary white bean soup. Also, you can serve this as holiday salad for Thanksgiving and toss in dried cranberries.
Storage & Leftovers
Even though the salad has more quinoa and broccoli than greens, if you are doing meal prep or you think you may have leftovers, only toss the portion of the salad in the dressing that you are planning to eat at that time.
You can store the salad in an airtight container up to 4 days in the fridge. Store the vinaigrette in a mason jar separate from the salad. If the dressing solidifies in the chill of the fridge, run the jar under warm water and shake it or put it out at room temperature about 15 minutes before you need it.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, quinoa is actually a seed. It doesn’t contain gluten and neither do any of the other ingredients.
Of course, but keep in mind that this is a vegan recipe as it is written. For cheese, you could sprinkle in crumbled goat or feta cheese. For a protein, try salmon, shrimp or chicken or it can be served as side.
More Quinoa Recipes
Kale Quinoa Salad
Roasted Butternut Squash & Black Bean Quinoa
Easy Lemon Quinoa
More Broccoli Recipes
Roasted Broccoli Orzo
Broccoli Pasta with Broccoli Pesto
Roasted Butternut Squash Broccoli Orzo
Broccoli Pea Edamame Fried Rice
Tahini Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower
Vegan Broccoli Soup
Sheet Pan Tofu and Broccoli
Balsamic Mushroom Broccoli Rice
Looking for more salad inspiration? Check out my seasonal salad guide with recipes and tips on ingredients, meal prep and more.
Roasted Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
For broccoli
- 1 pound broccoli florets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For quinoa
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted shelled pistachios, salted or lightly salted
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- On a sheet pan, toss the broccoli with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Spread the florets into a single layer. Roast for 8-10 minutes until the broccoli turns bright green and is lightly browned at the edges touching the pan.
- While the broccoli is roasting, make the quinoa. In a small saucepan, combine the quinoa and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmering on low for 11-12 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Remove the quinoa from the heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, lemon juice and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
- To assemble the salad, combine the quinoa, roasted broccoli, scallions, arugula, pistachios and parsley in a large bowl. Drizzle in the dressing, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This salad is delicious with a very satisfying depth of flavor. It feels like an entire meal and ridiculously easy to make. I can’t wait to make it again.
Honestly, honestly I added some mushrooms and carrots, but the dish and the sauce together are very delicious, satisfying, and feels like eating a huge meal. Also, it is very easy to make.