1 September 2017

Strawberry Peach Quinoa Salad

Food, recipes

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It seems as though everything I have been making lately involves quinoa. There was a huge bag for sale at the health food store down the street so don’t be surprised if my next couple of recipes involve quinoa. 

This quinoa salad was made on a whim but I’m so happy I decided to go through and make it. Here in Australia, it’s finally starting to warm up. The winter is quickly ending and spring is tomorrow!

So, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to start this season up with a delicious fruit salad that could get everyone in the spring/summer mood. 

quinoa salad

Quinoa salad Anybody?

On Monday, I found myself at Naked Foods (a bulk health food store here in Australia) looking through all the goods. I’m usually one to buy the regular white quinoa and stick to the ‘normal’ meals.

Like chicken and quinoa or a quinoa stir fry… But this time I wanted something different.

I’ve made a quinoa salad before. My awesome Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad. That was one of my first times actually succeeding when it came to making a quinoa salad. Every other time I tried to make a quinoa salad, the textures and tastes were just not right.

My mother is the queen of quinoa making I swear. Back when I was in university she would send me off after my weekend visits with this delicious quinoa salad. At 3 am in the morning my roommate and I would sit on the floor and eat the whole thing.

Good ol uni days… 

Now, since then I have been determined to make some really creative foods with quinoa. Quinoa is such an essential food. It is one of the best substitutes for vegans, it is a protein and can be substituted for any carb. Click here to read a little more on why I love quinoa!

quinoa salad

Have you checked out the dressing for this salad?

My creamy avocado lime salad dressing is gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free!

Before creating this quinoa salad, I actually made the dressing first. Considering I can’t have dairy and now only make dairy and sugar-free recipes, I needed to find something original. Something delicious. So make sure you check it out and give it a taste! 

Little more about the salad.

In this particular salad, I sliced up the strawberries and cut the peaches into large diced like shapes. I found it important to keep the fruit on the bigger side so every bite is filled with a fruit. 

quinoa saladWhen it comes to the peaches I recommend buying organic whole peaches and cutting them up. It’s okay to use canned peaches if necessary, but they are usually filled with sugar.

Another reason why I would avoid using canned peaches is the lubricated texture can make the salad a little too soggy. With the quinoa, kale, and the juices from the fruit you want to avoid any extra wetness in the salad. 

A different touch to this salad are the red onions. I thought it could potentially be a little much since this salad is more ‘sweet‘ based. Yet once I threw it into the bowl and had a taste, I really liked it. It gives it more of a tangy kick. 

Quinoa Salad with Dressing

Kale.. Kale.. Kale.. 

When first creating this salad, I cut the kale up in square sized pieces and thought it would be perfect. Unfortunately, the pieces were so big and somewhat over took the salad. In every bite, I felt as though I was eating only kale.

Really make sure that you’re slicing up the kale into small pieces. Almost string like pieces. I find this to be really important in this salad. With the fruit and quinoa, you need a leafy green that’s going to be small enough to be taken in with every bite. 

Spinach would have been ok in this salad but kale is just so healthy and mixes perfectly with quinoa. Also, most of the fruit salads online these days contain spinach so I wanted to do something different.

Spinach is great, don’t get me wrong. But, with the iceberg lettuce overload these days… our society is in need of some healthy extra dark greens like kale and collard greens. 

 

Just so you know:

What I had to do is peel the skin off the peaches because I was giving the salad to children. I don’t recommend this. I love the taste of the skin on the peaches but because the little ones I take care of are on the pickier side, I peeled it off just to make my life a little easier for me. 

Don’t you just love kids?  

quinoa saladNonetheless, the salad turned out perfectly. It was delicious and even the kids loved it (that’s when you know it’s a hit!).

Now that I’ve eaten the salad, I wouldn’t use it as an appetizer. I find that it would be a perfect salad to bring to a Sunday brunch or girls get together. 

It has that visual ‘wow‘ factor. The bright red and orange colors with the fresh look of the green kale.

What can I say, it’s an attractive quinoa salad.  

I’m thinking of creating a delicious ‘fall’ salad or meal. It seems a little odd for me to be creating something for fall when over here on this side of the world, the summer season is just starting! But, I will eventually be back over to my home roots in Canada and thus, want to keep the theme of this blog more tailored to those seasons. 

Though be prepared there will definitely be some great summer foods added to the blog. I’m really excited to be experiencing a real summer Christmas and better yet, a summer birthday! Yay!

If you’re interested in seeing some awesome fall recipes, let me know in the comment section down below! I love hearing your feedback. 

Happy Friday everyone!

 

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