Whole Food’s California Quinoa Salad
A healthy, nutritious copycat recipe that you can make right at home, loaded with sweet mango, bell peppers, edamame and coconut!
Have you ever tried Whole Food’s California Quinoa Salad? I’ve tried it a few times and I finally got around to make it at home. And to my surprise, the homemade version is so much better.
Now I love copycat recipes because you gain full control of what’s in your dish, and you can cherry pick some of the ingredients to your preferences. So for me, I added extra mangos and extra coconut because the tropical twist in this is just amazing!
There’s also tons of other fun goodies in this salad – from the raisins to the edamame and the tangy balsamic-lime dressing. Yes, it’s definitely a party flavor with every bite!
Plus, this is incredibly healthy and nutritious, and certainly bikini-friendly. You can’t beat that!
Whole Food’s California Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- Zest of 2 limes
- 1 mango, peeled and diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup shelled edamame
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar and lime zest; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mango, bell pepper, edamame, red onion, coconut flakes, almonds, raisins and cilantro. Pour the balsamic vinegar mixture on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Sounds delicious and can’t wait to try it. Wish we had the nutritionals, though.
Rene, feel free to use online resources at your discretion to obtain nutritional information.
How much lime is zest of two limes? Can you explain further?
1 lime can yield about 1-2 teaspoons of zest.
I’m so glad you posted a recipe for this! I can’t wait to try it! 🙂
I just made this for a party & it really is delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So bright and fresh, wish I had this now!
This quinoa looks awesome! Gotta try this one!
Oh yum, this looks amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at my Whole Foods but now I want to go check!
I like the coconut mixed in. This would make a GREAT lunch for those of us who
work most particularly——with a 10 minute prep time—hello—-awesome.
Yum! Perfect for a lunchbox main 🙂 I love the idea of adding coconut flakes to a quinoa salad too.
I’m hooked on so many things at Whole Foods but I haven’t gotten around to trying their version of this salad. This looks so colorful and satisfying, and that balsamic-lime dressing sounds delicious!
Love quinoa salads, and your version looks so fresh and colorful – YUM! Perfect lunch!
I’m loving the colors and flavors of this salad, the mango is a great touch!
This salad looks just fresh and colorful. It’s screaming my name! 🙂
It’s been a while since I’ve visited a Whole Foods Salad Bar – they do have great inspiration there!
Love the colourful look of this – so pretty! Looks perfect for a potluck, too 🙂
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood
Oh my! This looks amazing, and thumbs up for adding a little extra of the tropical things, so delicious and colourful! I just wish we could get proper shelled edamame here, have only found tiny snack boxes of them or canned ones, but they’re just not the same! Will have to give this a go 🙂
x
Not to mention that it tastes better, you can control the exact ratios of ingredients, but hello money savings! Love WFs but not the prices of their deli stuff. You could go broke to feed a family dinner in there! Great recipe and idea!