This Peach Quinoa Salad tastes like summer! With nutty quinoa, juicy peaches, fresh corn, creamy avocado, peppery arugula, and candied jalapeños for a pop of heat, this is a vegan summer salad you'll love!
PREP TIME: 15 minutesminutes
COOK TIME: 10 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME: 25 minutesminutes
Servings: 8servings
Ingredients
For the salad
1 cup (170grams)uncooked quinoa, or 3 cups of cooked quinoa
2 ears (1½ cups)fresh corn, cut off the cob
¼ of ared onion, diced
⅓ clam shell(45 g/ 1½ oz)arugula
2big handfulsfresh basil, or mint
3peaches, stoned and sliced or diced (divided)
1 to 2avocados, peeled, stoned & diced
1mediumEnglish cucumber, diced
2tablespoonsdiced candied jalapeño, or pickled/fresh
2.5tablespoonswhite wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2tablespoonsmaple syrup, (pure not pancake syrup)
1small clove garlic, grated very finely
¼teaspoonred chili pepper flakes, optional
¾teaspoonfine sea salt
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Add the uncooked quinoa to a saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water. Put the lid on and bring to a rolling boil. Turn to low and leave to gently simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the water has completely disappeared. Turn off the heat. Leave alone with lid on to steam for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and use, or store in the fridge until needed.
Whisk up the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or jar.
Set aside ½ a sliced peach, a few nice basil leaves, and the optional feta cheese to garnish the top.
To a large salad bowl, add the fluffed quinoa, corn, red onion, arugula, whole basil leaves, peaches, avocado, cucumber, and chopped jalapeno. Pour over the dressing and toss well.
Garnish the top with the reserved peach slices, basil leaves, and as much crumbled vegan feta cheese as your heart desires.
NOTES
All of the components (except the avocado and peaches) can be prepped up to a day in advance, but for maximum freshness keep everything separate until just before you are ready to serve. This salad is best when freshly made but already mixed up leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 24 hours. The basil and arugula don't hold up well so I recommend adding a handful or 2 of fresh leaves to freshen things up a bit.