Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad with Turmeric Tahini Sauce

This Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad with Turmeric Tahini Sauce is super tasty and packed full of goodness! 

Oh my, this Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad with Turmeric Tahini Sauce (I know, I know, it's a mouthful but let's face it, you don't have to say it out loud, just get it in your belly!). This is good stuff. I'm sorry things have been quiet around here lately - what with moving house and Christmas and all the other life stuff that gets in the way - but I hope this salad more than makes up for my absence! Nah, I don't need to hope - it's awesome.

This is proper oh-my-goodness-it's-the-dead-of-winter-all-I'm-eating-is-carbs-give-me-some-food-that-isn't-beige-now kind of food. You know you know what I mean! And if you don't, well, hat's off to you. This is one heck of a bowlful which can be served mostly warm (hurray!) and leaves you feeling so good! It's packed full of protein (quinoa! chicken! edamame!) so really fills you up and the chicken is delish but you could easily veganize this and make it with tofu or similar instead (and sub coconut yoghurt for the Greek yoghurt). Or not at all, it's great without too! It's packed full of quinoa, chopped raw broccoli (trust me, it's great, though you can steam it if you prefer), edamame, pomegranate and avocado. All the good stuff!

It's all about the sauce really, which is like a ray of sunshine on these dreary January days. Is it just me, or is January extra dreary and grey this year? Although saying that, yesterday and today it was clear blue skies and gorgeous sunshine...but in general it's been seriously dismal. Which is where this sauce comes in! You just can't eat bright yellow sauce without it putting a smile on your face, it's not possible! Ugh, it's amazing! I'm kind of obsessed with turmeric right now (so predictable, I know) and it is largely down to the fact that it's just so incredibly cheering. It's pretty amazing in golden milk, too, I just love that earthy spiciness. Yum. Oh and yeah it's supposed to be really good for us too, which is lower on my list of reasons for consuming it, but sure doesn't hurt! Colour > taste > health benefits. Yup.

The sauce is made of lots of delicious things like turmeric (of course), roasted garlic, tahini, lemon juice and yoghurt, plus a couple of other things to balance it out and make it taste really great. I reckon you could use it on all kinds of different foods too, not just this salad. Chicken, fish and veggies all sound like good candidates. Go experiment!

I hope you love this Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad as much as I do! It's so good. It's best eaten on the day it's made but it will last for a couple of days in the fridge - great for work lunches!

Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad

This Superfood Chicken Quinoa Salad with Turmeric Tahini Sauce is quick and simple to make and full of goodness! 

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

0 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Sasha

Equipment

• ▢
  Baking Sheet

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 chicken breasts
• ▢ 1 tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil, plus extra to dress the salad
• ▢ zest of 1 lemon + juice of ½
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sumac, (optional)
• ▢ 2 cups broccoli florets
• ▢ 1 cup frozen edamame
• ▢ 1 pomegranate
• ▢ 1-2 avocados
• ▢ 2 cups cooked quinoa

Turmeric Tahini Sauce

• ▢ 2-3 cloves garlic
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ juice of ½ lemon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tahini
• ▢ 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon maple syrup
• ▢ 1 tablespoon water, (plus more to thin as desired)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F. 
• Toss the chicken breasts with the oil, lemon zest, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and sumac, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until cooked through. 
  2 chicken breasts, 1 tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil, zest of 1 lemon + juice of ½, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon sumac
• Wrap the garlic cloves for the sauce in foil and place in the oven to roast along with the chicken. They'll need about 25 minutes too. 
  2-3 cloves garlic
• Meanwhile, finely chop the broccoli. You don't need to be too precious about this, you're just aiming for small bite-sized pieces. Cook the frozen edamame in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes. Remove the arils from your pomegranate and dice the avocado. 
  2 cups broccoli florets, 1 cup frozen edamame, 1 pomegranate, 1-2 avocados
• Place the salad ingredients in a large bowl with the cooked quinoa. Toss with the juice of half a lemon, a drizzle of oil and some salt and pepper. 
  2 cups cooked quinoa, juice of ½ lemon
• Slice the chicken and add to the salad. Serve up the salad and drizzle with the sauce. Enjoy!

Turmeric Tahini Sauce

• Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves (see above) into a small bowl and add a pinch of flaky sea salt. Crush using the back of a spoon until you have a paste. 
  2-3 cloves garlic
• Add the turmeric, lemon juice and tahini and mix well. Stir in the yoghurt, maple syrup and enough water to thin to your liking. Season, adding salt, black pepper and more maple syrup to taste. (And don't forget to add black pepper to aid absorption of the turmeric goodness!)
  ½ teaspoon ground turmeric, juice of ½ lemon, 1 tablespoon tahini, 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt, ½ teaspoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon water

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Nutrition

Calories: 592kcal | Carbohydrates: 78.7g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 22.9g | Saturated Fat: 3.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.8g | Cholesterol: 12.1mg | Sodium: 46.4mg | Potassium: 1314.3mg | Fiber: 14.9g | Sugar: 9.6g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 67.4mg | Calcium: 125.2mg | Iron: 6.2mg

Course Lunch, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Keyword Chicken Salad, healthy, Quinoa, Superfood

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