Caprese Quinoa Salad
An Italian-inspired meal made even more heart-healthy and protein-packed with quinoa!
So I had a bit of a revelation the other day. A scary revelation might I add.
Okay, here goes.
I don’t think I could EVER be a parent.
See, I was with my niece and nephews the other night, playing around and jumping on the bed, as usual. But my nephew, Aiden, fell off the bed twice, resulting in a backwards summersault to the floor, which prompted two panic attacks on my end.
Apparently, my freak outs freak the kids out.
So Jason and I are working on me “chilling” when this stuff happens. But man, oh man, is it hard.
But I’ll tell you what’s not hard. This salad here. It comes together in just minutes, giving you that classic Italian caprese flavors in a more health-conscious manner using quinoa and avocado, leaving you with a summer dish that’s so perfect, so light and oh-so-refreshing.
And you know I’ll only be using Bob’s Red Mill‘s quinoa – an Oregon-based company that utilizes simple, old-world technology to mill hundreds of all-natural whole grain products, manufacturing natural foods in the natural way.
Sometimes natural is just the best way to go!
Caprese Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill quinoa
- 8 ounces mozzarella, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, avocado and pine nuts. Stir in balsamic vinegar and olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: Bob’s Red Mill provided me with their quinoa for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
This one is a keeper! I add diced grilled chicken, blanched asparagus and fresh spinach. So tasty!
This is amazing! I tried it with vegan cheese instead of the mozzarella and it was beaut!
Fabulous salad, and my Italian guy was very content! Have made a couple of times – once as written, and last night subbed some of the balsamic for red wine vinegar, added a tiny bloop of honey, and whizzed in a couple of TBSPs of my homemade pesto.
Really great – thanks for the inspiration!
You just made my favorite salad(Caprese) even better!!! I might eat the whole bowl in one sitting 🙂 A friend turned me onto your site and I can’t wait to make more of your meals!!! Your site is amazing! Thank you
I’m obsessed with quinoa. I bought some quinoa a few months ago… and still it sits in my cupboard. I think this is the perfect recipe to get me started! Thanks!
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How did you cook the quinoa?
Vanessa, I recommend cooking the quinoa according to the package instructions for optimal results.
Thank you for such a quick response! My package just says 2 cups of liquid to 1 cup of quinoa. What kind of liquid did you use?
You can use either chicken broth or water.
Is it 2 cups of cooked quinoa after it is cooked. Or do you cook 2 cups of dry quinoa?
Cayman, the recipe states “2 cups cooked quinoa” – meaning 2 cups of fully cooked quinoa. 2 cups of dry quinoa will yields about 4 cups cooked quinoa.
sorry, the recipe I see says 1 cup quinoa? I am a long time cook and I understand the yields but this conversation makes name think I am missing something…
Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design.
Outstanding choice of colors!
Hi are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and
set up my own. Do you need any html coding expertise to make your
own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Yes, I am using WordPress platform. I just migrated over from Tumblr. You do need a little bit of html coding expertise if you want to design and customize your own blog but there are a lot of tutorials online. You could also pay for a redesign in which they would take care of all the coding for you. Hope that helps!