There’s a lot of flavor going on in this quinoa with roasted broccoli and arugula salad. The broccoli is caramelized by being roasted – intensifying its flavor. Quinoa and peppery arugula are added for body. Throw in a handful of other salty and crunchy ingredients to round things out. And finally a bright lemony dressing pulls it all together. This is a lovely, filling salad that you can serve as lunch, or bring to a potluck or pack up and take to work like I did. It works well served right away while it’s still warm or cold the next day (just check to see if more dressing is needed after it’s cooled).
The recipe looks like it has a lot of steps but it’s really not that complicated. Once you’ve put the broccoli in the oven you can start the quinoa. While the broccoli and quinoa are cooking you can prep the rest of the ingredients. Everything finishes at the same time so you just need to toss it all together and you’re done.
A couple of notes:
Don’t cut your broccoli into tiny pieces. It will shrink in the oven while it’s being roasted. I’m always surprised how much vegetables shrink when they are roasted.
If you’re buying precut broccoli – 4 cups equals about a 12 ounce bag of broccoli.
Broccoli should be on a single layer on the baking sheet so it browns and caramelizes. If you mound it up on the baking sheet it will just steam rather than roast.
Quinoa needs to be rinsed before you cook it. Rinse in a fine mesh sieve to remove the bitter coating.
To prevent quinoa from being mushy – turn out the quinoa on to a baking sheet to cool once it’s finished cooking. This will leave the quinoa delicate and fluffy.
PrintQuinoa with Roasted Broccoli and Arugula Salad
A quinoa salad with caramelized roasted broccoli and peppery arugula. A great spring salad bursting with flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 2 cups of water
- 1 bouillon cube
- 1 head of broccoli – chopped – should equal roughly 4 cups
- 4 scallions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 cups of arugula
- 10 olives
- ½ cup of Feta
- 1 large handful of walnuts
- 4 tbs of olive oil
- ½ lemon
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Rinse and chop up one head of broccoli. In a bowl, toss with 2 tbs of olive oil and pepper to taste.
- Put broccoli on a baking sheet and place in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.
- While broccoli is cooking, chop up the scallions. You’re going to add about half of the scallions, the white end, to the roasting broccoli. Reserve green half of scallions for main salad.
- Mince garlic or put through a garlic press.
- After 15 minutes, remove broccoli from oven. Give it a stir and add the chopped white half of the scallions and the minced garlic. Stir to combine and put back in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven after 5 minutes and let cool slightly.
- While the broccoli is cooking, rinse and cook quinoa as per package instructions. It’s usually a ratio of 1 cup of dried quinoa to 2 cups of water. Add a bouillon cube to the water.
- When quinoa is done – turn out on to a baking sheet to cool.
- Roughly chop the arugula and add to a bowl.
- Roughly chop the olives and add to the bowl.
- Dice the feta and add to the bowl.
- Add roasted broccoli, quinoa, chopped green ends of scallions and walnuts to the bowl. Toss to combine.
- Mix together juice of half a lemon and 2 tbs of olive oil. Add a few twists of pepper and whisk to combine. Pour over salad and toss.
Janelle
This looks absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
I was wondering two things though: 1) can the olives be omitted without disrupting the taste? 2) can a different type of cheese be used?
Was thinking very finely grated Parmesan? Would make up for the saltiness and then a few crisps of the cheese for crunch? If I don’t hear back, I’ll try and it and be sure to let you know! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
S Duryea
Brava! I made this three times in the past week for various potlucks celebrating Passover Seder, Easter dinner and a neighbor’s vet school admission. Each time it was a big hit. Many requests for the recipe from intrigued guests. It is kosher for Passover (minus the bullion). And it stands up well to travel. Note: I doubled the lemon juice in the last step, to preserve the appearance of the greens while it sat on the buffet. Delicious!! Quinoa is hugely popular now and people are happy to find new ways to serve it. Thank you, Geraldine!
Geraldine
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and it was a big hit! Your comment made me really happy. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know.