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    Eat Love Eat » Lunch

    Quinoa Salad with Pesto and Peas

    Published: Apr 17, 2018, Last Modified: April 2, 2022, By Sasha Hooper · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    This Quinoa Salad with Pesto and Peas features sugar snap peas, grated carrots and pesto tossed with quinoa to create a light and flavourful spring salad.

    Two bowls of quinoa salad with pesto and peas and forks, with basil leaves nearby.

    Apparently I have a thing for quinoa. I'm ok with that though, because I think it's awesome. It's super easy to cook (unless you leave your pan unattended and almost burn the house down), it sits happily in the fridge for a few days waiting to be made into impromptu breakfasts and it provides just enough carb-factor at lunchtime without completely weighing you down. So, here's a light and springy quinoa salad for your lunches this week, because you can never have too many quinoa salads. If you have had enough of quinoa, try these Crispy Chicken Tacos instead!

    No, really, you can't. And if you do happen to get tired of quinoa salads, you can always make quinoa breakfast muffins instead. Win win!

    A bowl of the ingredients for the quinoa salad before mixing.

    Just look at all those crunchy, green things! At this time of year, I start to seriously crave green. But I must admit, I've been slow off the mark with that this year. I'm sure you can relate. Here in the UK, spring is about a month late, but I'm pretty confident it's here at last! Yay!

    I know this because we spent much of our Saturday this weekend floating down the River Avon in a duck-shaped pedalo, overlooked by the magnificent Warwick Castle. You can't do that kind of stuff in winter, so I'm convinced spring is finally here. It was wonderful. The sun was warm and the air was sweet and everywhere new green leaves were sprouting and blossom was blooming. I mean, does life get any better than just being in nature, in the moment, with the people you love the most? I don't think it does. (But of course, the fact that we were literally sat inside a giant mallard took it over the top. Of course it did.)

    A bowl with Pea and Quinoa salad with some basil leaves around.

    And with that, my desire to eat all the green things has returned.

    Starting with this Quinoa Salad with Pesto and Peas! This is a really super simple salad but I started making it last year and began craving it again this year as the seasons started to change. The base is my beloved quinoa (but you could use any grain you fancy, really). The quinoa is then tossed with lots of crunchy raw veggies - grated carrots, peas, sugar snaps, pea shoots - a little grated cheese, some toasted pumpkin seeds and the simplest pesto dressing you could imagine. And that's it! Pack it into boxes for your work lunches (though I'd recommend keeping the dressing separate until you're ready to eat) or serve it up in a big bowl for a lovely light lunch to share. You could even layer this up into Mason jars if you wanted to! You do you. And enjoy every second of it 🙂

    A bowl of quinoa salad with a fork.
    A bowl of quinoa salad with a fork and a glass of water nearby.
    two bowls of salad with forks and glasses of water and a jar of pesto.

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    Two bowls of quinoa salad with pesto and peas and forks, with basil leaves nearby.

    Quinoa Salad with Pesto and Peas

    A quick and easy light lunch to throw together packed with veggies and quinoa and dressed with pesto.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe ⭐️ Rate Recipe
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Author: Sasha Hooper

    Equipment

    • Mixing bowls
    • Frying pan

    Ingredients 

    • 2 cups (250g) cooked quinoa
    • 1 cup (125g) frozen peas, defrosted
    • 2 large carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
    • 1 cup (100g) sugar snap peas, sliced in half diagonally
    • ½ cup (35g) extra mature cheddar, coarsely grated
    • handful of pea shoots, or greens of choice
    • ¼ cup (35g) pumpkin seeds
    • 2 tablespoons pesto*, see recipe notes
    • 2 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

    Instructions

    • In a large mixing bowl, toss together the quinoa, peas, grated carrots, sugar snaps, grated cheese and pea shoots. 
      2 cups (250g) cooked quinoa, 1 cup (125g) frozen peas, 2 large carrots, 1 cup (100g) sugar snap peas, ½ cup (35g) extra mature cheddar, handful of pea shoots
    • In a small frying pan, toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat until they start to pop and jump in the pan. Add these to the bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients. 
      ¼ cup (35g) pumpkin seeds
    • Mix together the pesto, oil and lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper as desired. If serving straight away, add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Alternatively, keep the salad and the dressing in separate containers in the fridge until ready to eat. Will keep for 3 days. 
      2 tablespoons pesto*, 2 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
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    Notes

    You can use any pesto you like for this. I tend to make my own, based on what's available in my fridge at the time. This time, I used a mix of pine nuts, almonds and walnuts (use whatever you prefer or have on hand), some extra mature cheddar, a clove of garlic, a handful each of basil, spinach and pea shoots, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil. Keep whatever you don't use for the salad in a jar, the surface of the pesto covered with oil.   
    Nutrition label is a rough estimate and will vary based on your pesto ingredients.                   

    Nutrition

    Calories: 568kcal | Carbohydrates: 66.5g | Protein: 21.4g | Fat: 25.1g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.7g | Cholesterol: 16.3mg | Sodium: 250.7mg | Potassium: 791.3mg | Fiber: 9.7g | Sugar: 4.8g | Vitamin A: 410.6IU | Vitamin C: 24.5mg | Calcium: 204mg | Iron: 5.8mg
    Course Lunch, Main Course, Salad
    Cuisine British
    Did you make this recipe?Leave a comment below with how you got on and don't forget to give the recipe a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. You can also tag @eatloveeats on Instagram - we love to see your creations!
    « Cherry Bakewell Quinoa Breakfast Parfaits
    Caramel Chocolate Bars »
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    Comments

    1. Melissa says

      April 22, 2018 at 12:26 pm

      5 stars
      This is basically spring in a bowl! I love quinoa added to salad. And I cannot wait until fresh peas are available this spring! And riding in a duck shaped boat is now on my bucket list.

      Reply
      • Sasha says

        April 22, 2018 at 4:20 pm

        Spring in a bowl is what I was going for so yay! Haha, I hope you get to cross that off your bucket list soon!

        Reply
    2. SBB says

      April 18, 2018 at 7:06 pm

      5 stars
      Looks really tasty. :-))

      Reply
      • Sasha says

        April 22, 2018 at 4:25 pm

        Thank you!

        Reply

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