A warming garlic ginger soy sauce dressing wrapping around the roasted vegetables and quinoa is what is always a welcome lunch in our house. Plant-based salads and bowls don't get much better than this Warm Quinoa Broccoli salad topped with salty cashew nuts! High in protein and incredibly nutritious, this is both a healthy and delicious vegan meal that can be served as a main or a side dish!
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What's So Special About Quinoa?
Quinoa is a seed of the flowering amaranth plant. Firm in texture and not too pronounced in flavour, it is an excellent ingredient as a base to add flavour to. Why is quinoa so popular? Well, here are just a few well-known facts about this 'superfood':
- Quinoa is popular amongst healthy eaters, as it is highly nutritious: it is full or vitamins and minerals and a lot higher in fibre than other grains.
- Quinoa is high in protein and is a perfect sauce of it for those on a plant-based diet.
- It contains complete protein, which means that it gives us all the essential amino acids we need.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- quinoa: we used white quinoa, but red or tri-colour quinoa will be great in this salad too.
- broccoli: separated into small florets or you can use tenderstem broccoli (broccolini), cut into pieces crossways.
- asparagus tips: ideally not too fine, as they will burn in the oven. You can also use whole asparagus, but make sure to chop off any hard woody ends.
- Chinese cabbage: also known as Chinese Leaf. Half of it weighs approx 250g.
- spring onions
- cashew nuts: we used roasted salted cashew nuts, but raw cashews or even roasted peanuts will work in this quinoa asparagus salad.
- spices: smoked paprika and cumin
- soy sauce: we used light soy sauce. Be careful with the amount you use - different brands of soy sauce have varying levels of saltiness, so less is more here. You can always drizzle the extra sauce on top of your salad if you need to.
- olive oil: extra virgin
- garlic clove: peeled and minced, or very finely chopped.
- ginger: peeled and minced, or very finely chopped.
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C Fan. Line a large tray with baking parchment.
Cut asparagus tips into 2 or 3 pieces crosswise. Separate the broccoli florets, or, if using broccolini, cut them into 2-3 pieces crosswise too. Cut half of the Chinese cabbage into 4 wedges keeping the core intact.
Cook quinoa following instructions on the packet (we pour 250ml of water into a pan and boil on medium heat until all the water evaporates. This normally takes about 20 minutes). Once cooked, keep the quinoa warm.
Spread all the vegetables on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper all over. Roast for 15 minutes (if your Chinese Cabbage is very large, after 15 minutes, remove the asparagus and broccoli and carry on roasting the cabbage wedges for another 5-7 minutes, until slightly charred and softened).
In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients. I wouldn't recommend adding any extra seasoning to the dressing: soy sauce is salty enough!
When the vegetables are cooked, cut the core off the cabbage and separate the leaves. Mix the quinoa with roasted asparagus, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, spring onion and the soy sauce dressing. Scatter the cashew nuts on top and serve warm!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! And if you don't have quinoa, this roasted vegetable salad works very well with couscous, bulgur wheat and green lentils too!
Yes! The only thing I'd mention is that Chinese Cabbage (Chinese Leaf) is a lot easier to eat warm, so if you're serving this salad cold, I'd recommend chopping the cabbage into smaller bite-size pieces.
What To Serve With Warm Quinoa Salad?
This Quinoa & Broccoli Salad can stand as a main on its own. At almost 500kcal and 16g of protein per portion, it is a hearty and filling salad. But what we absolutely love having with it is baba ganoush and Sourdough Pitta bread. It is also perfect served as a part of a selection of salads.
Other Vegan Salad and Bowl Recipes
Recipe Card
Warm Quinoa Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
- 100 g quinoa
- 120 g small broccoli florets or tenderstem broccoli (broccolini)
- 120 g asparagus tips
- ½ Chinese cabbage (Chinese Leaf) approx 250g
- 4 spring onions thinly sliced
- 30 g roasted cashew nuts
For the Dressing:
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 10 g ginger minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C Fan. Line a large tray with baking parchment.
- Cut asparagus tips into 2 or 3 pieces crosswise. Separate the broccoli florets, or, if using broccolini, cut them into 2-3 pieces crosswise too. Cut half of the Chinese cabbage into 4 wedges keeping the core intact.
- Cook quinoa following instructions on the packet (we pour 250ml of water into a pan and boil on medium heat until all the water evaporates. This normally takes about 20 minutes). Once cooked, keep the quinoa warm.
- Spread all the vegetables on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper all over. Roast for 15 minutes (if your Chinese Cabbage is very large, after 15 minutes, remove the asparagus and broccoli and carry on roasting the cabbage wedges for another 5-7 minutes, until slightly charred and softened).
- In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients.
- When the vegetables are cooked, cut the core off the cabbage and separate the leaves. Mix the quinoa with roasted asparagus, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, spring onion and the soy sauce dressing. Scatter the cashew nuts on top and serve warm!
Nutrition
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