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!
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.
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.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. It is now ready to serve.
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!
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 2
Prep.: 10 mins | Cook: 15 mins
Ingredients:Mains
Dressing
Extra salt and water for soak and boil
Hello! My name is Kee. I’m an illustrator, graphic designer, music lover, gym freak, mountain hiker, vegan cook and wine drinker based in London.
For me, food is not just the indulgence of taste-buds; it is a way to connect people together, a way of feeling, of touching, of loving and of sharing. It creates a moment, a memory and a togetherness with someone you care for or an experience just for yourself. I want to create delicious plant-based dishes that everyone can experience and enjoy together, whether vegan, vegetarian or meat eater. Seeing people’s joy when eating just gives me butterflies and so here I am. Welcome to K33 Kitchen! <3 <3
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 »