Sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa salad

For me, London currently has the best weather in the world (Ha! Perhaps a ton of people are going to disagree with me). It is around 20°C in the daytime – warm enough to have cold noodles, salads, and BBQ. But also not too hot to stop me fancying hot soup or ramen.

Today I am going to share a Mediterranean inspired, healthy quinoa salad with sun-dried tomatoes and aubergine. It is so tasty, delightful, and refreshing as a light lunch, picnic, or as a side dish for BBQ. An ideal recipe for this season!

Sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa salad

Cut the aubergine lengthways into 3-4mm slices. Soak them in salted water for 5 minutes.

Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, and walnut, then set aside.

Cook the tri-coloured quinoa in salted water. For timing, follow the instructions on the packaging. It should usually take around 10 minutes.

Once the quinoa is cooked, rinse in cold water. Shake through a sieve or colander to remove any excess water and set aside.

Sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa salad

Meanwhile, drain and dry the aubergine slices with a kitchen towel.

Heat a griddle pan or grill. Cook the aubergine slice in batches for 2-3 mins, turning once, until softened and lightly charred. Set aside.

Personally, I prefer using a griddle pan because I have better control with the heat… also the results are prettier. ?

Place all of the main ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Add the lemon zest using a grater. Try not to over grate into the lemon skin as the white pith can be bitter.

Halve the lemon and juice 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Combine lemon juice with the rest of the dressing in a bowl, mix well.

Sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa salad

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. It is now ready to serve.

Sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa saladSun-dried tomatoes, aubergine and quinoa salad

You may also be interested in checking out my other healthy, and delicious, quinoa salad recipes.

Quinoa tabbouleh
Kale, tofu, mushroom and quinoa protein bowl
Quick and easy Mexican quinoa salad

If you’ve followed and made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and take a picture, tagging it with #k33_kitchen and share it on Instagram! I’d be very excited to see what you come up with. Cheers, hope you enjoy my recipes!

0 0 votes
Rate this recipe

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2

Prep.: 10 mins | Cook: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Mains

  • 150g uncooked tri-coloured quinoa
  • 1 medium aubergine (about 300g), cut into 3-4mm slices
  • 50g oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 10g fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 25g walnut, finely chopped

Dressing

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • Pinch of black pepper

Extra salt and water for soak and boil

Share it:
Instructions:
  1. Soak the aubergine in salted water for 5 minutes.
  2. Cook the tri-coloured quinoa in salted water. For timing, follow the instructions on the packaging. It should usually take around 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, drain and dry the aubergine slices with a kitchen towel.
  4. Heat a griddle pan or grill. Cook the aubergine slices in batches for 2-3 mins, turning once, until softened and lightly charred. Set aside.
  5. Once the quinoa is cooked, rinse in cold water. Shake through a sieve to remove any excess water and set aside.
  6. Place all of the main ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add the lemon zest using a grater.
  7. Combine the rest of the dressing into a bowl, mixing well.
  8. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. It is now ready to serve.
You may also like
Nutty spinach pasta
Nutty spinach pasta
Cinnamon chocolate twist
Vegan chocolate twist pastry
K33Kitchen st georges mushroom toast wild garlic pesto
St. George’s mushroom on toast wild garlic pesto
Leave a Comments
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
SELCUK UTKU
SELCUK UTKU
3 years ago

Drying applied to foods has many purposes. By drying, the product loses moisture and protects against microorganism growth and other reactions. With the right drying process, quality features such as color, taste, smell, aroma and nutritional value are being preserved. In addition, the decrease in product volume by drying increases the efficiency of the transport and storage processes. Carefully selected fruits and vegetables are taken to drying process after going through pre-processes such as washing, sorting, peeling, chopping and extracting seeds. With the drying process, fruits ,vegetables , herbs and mushrooms are being consumed as dried without losing their natural… Read more »