Quinoa, Chickpea, and Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Salad
Call it salad or side — this perfect medley of quinoa with vegetables is a great complement to any meal!
There is a big debate currently going on among my followers on Instagram over whether to call this a salad or a side dish, with people on both sides of the fence. I also had a discussion with my editor about which category it should fall under, and we couldn’t come to a clear consensus. If you Google quinoa dishes, they will primarily come up in the salad category, so at first I thought that it’s definitely a salad. But then, when I started thinking about it, I realized that if I’m serving this at a meal, I will still serve a lettuce salad alongside it, but not another starch side. So perhaps it really is a side…
I finally decided…you can categorize it however you want. It’s delicious — and that category is indisputable!
Quinoa is a deliciously healthy whole grain packed with protein and fiber. I love the fact that even before I start adding vegetables and proteins, I already have a head start in the health department. My mother-in-law introduced me to quinoa when I first came into the family. Before I met her, my definition of grains consisted of rice and pasta. One of my mother-in-law’s friends made a salad similar to this quinoa with vegetables for my Shabbos sheva brachos and it was so good, I took the leftovers home with me on the plane. I loved the combination of starch and vegetables and the way the flavors all melded together. I loved the nutty, wholesome taste of the quinoa. Yet, for some reason, even though I really enjoyed eating it, I never made it myself. Instead, I eagerly awaited each visit to my in-laws so I could eat my mother-in-law’s famous quinoa salad.
Then, one time, as I was packing up to go, my mother-in-law handed me a little ziploc bag filled with quinoa and said, “Faigy, it is time. Make your own so you don’t have to wait months to enjoy it here!”
And so I did. And I wondered what had taken me so long!
I like making this quinoa with vegetables dish for shalosh seudos; it’s a great addition to the meal. I keep it pareve and will add crumbled feta cheese if we are milchig. This can also be served with sliced grilled chicken, cubed deli, or flaked salmon — it pairs really well with my baked pesto salmon.
During the week I’ll eat the leftovers for lunch, but then I’ll make it more “salady” by adding chopped red cabbage, diced cucumbers, and chopped tomatoes. Sometimes I’ll add a cubed avocado or a scoop of cottage cheese… I think you get my drift — this salad is truly versatile!
When preparing this, I like to bake the quinoa directly in a Pyrex serving dish and then add the rest of the components to that, so there’s one less thing to clean and I don’t have to transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Quinoa can be temperamental, so I am always hesitant to share my oven-baked method for quinoa and I will usually just write to follow package directions. But since there’s often no oven-bake directions, I will tell you to always follow a 1:2 ratio — meaning for every measure of quinoa, use double that amount of water. For this recipe, I used ¾ cup quinoa and 1½ cups water. I always start off baking it for 15-20 minutes and then check on it every 5 minutes until it’s nice and fluffy.
I love the combination of roasted, fresh and canned vegetables that’s in this particular salad but I am always changing it up, depending upon what I have on hand or am in the mood of. Lately, I’ve been treating myself to the pre-cut veggies from the grocery so I don’t have to struggle to cut up the squash or sweet potato. I find that works well and is a great time-saver.
This salad lasts a few days in the fridge.
Quinoa, Chickpea, and Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Salad
Ingredients
Quinoa:
- ¾ cup quinoa
- 1½ cups water
Roasted Vegetables:
- 1 sweet potato or butternut squash, cubed
- 1 can corn, drained
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 tsp Union Mediterranean Blend*
- Salt, to taste
Other Vegetables:
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 red pepper, diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Place quinoa and water in a pan and cover tightly. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, checking after 15 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until it’s dry and fluffy. (As mentioned in the post, this time may vary.)
- Raise oven temp to 400℉.
- Place sweet potato or squash on one side of a lined cookie sheet and corn on the other (alternatively, you can use two separate pans, but I find this easier). Drizzle with oil and then sprinkle with salt and Mediterranean Blend.*
- Roast for 20 minutes. Remove corn and continue roasting squash/sweet potato for an additional 20 minutes, until done.
- Allow roasted vegetables to cool. Toss everything together and drizzle with some more olive oil to taste.
Notes
Recipe by Faigy Murray | https://mykitchenmystudio.com/quinoa-with-vegetables/
