Gluten Free

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

11/17/2019 05:26:00 PM

Blood orange, sweet potato and quinoa salad. Fluffy quinoa is studded with toasty crunchy almonds and sweet pops of raisins, and served with earthy cubes of roast sweet potato, sharp and fragrant blood orange, and lovely soft green beans. All this deliciousness is brought together with creamy hummus. It's soooo good, and incidentally gluten free, vegan, and full of protein too. Lovely for entertaining, parties or potlucks, and totally meal-preppable too!

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad


Salad! I was not expecting to get this excited about a salad, but here we are. I totally love this salad! I made it on a lazy Cup Day at home, and ate it joyfully for meals throughout the week. It happens to be gluten free, vegan, and full of fibre and vegetarian protein, but it certainly doesn't taste worthy or healthy, it just tastes great!

I got the idea from a salad box I bought for lunch from Lomah the other day. They did a mix of three salads for $9.95 - there was quinoa with almonds and orange cubes, soft roast pumpkin, a green bean and spinach mix, and loads of hummus. What was initially a sad-desk-salad actually turned out to be super delicious and joyful, hooray! The highlight, for me, were the crunchy almonds and sweet cubes of orange punctuating the quinoa, and I totally wanted to recreate something similar at home... perhaps with my beloved blood oranges, and perhaps in a very Insta-friendly platter kinda way. This salad is what I came up with.

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

There are a few bits and pieces to make but none of it is hard - cook some quinoa, toast some almonds, soak some raisins, roast some sweet potato, slice a couple of blood oranges, boil some green beans. I used a good quality bought hummus, but you could definitely make it from scratch if that floats your boat.

To assemble the salad, I started with some swirls of hummus on half the plate, drizzling it generously with extra virgin olive oil and za'atar.

Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar
Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar

I then piled the quinoa mixture on half the plate...

Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar, quinoa
Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar, quinoa

... and then arranged the sweet potato cubes, green beans, and blood orange slices around. Ta-dah! Of course, if you're not "doing it for the Insta", you could simply stir all the elements together and serve with a scoop of hummus on top, but I actually really enjoy the process of putting together a pretty platter!

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

I love the idea of including this salad as one dish in a buffet-style lunch spread, say at a barbecue or a summer party. Pretty, colourful, healthy, and hits lots of dietary requirements! But in a less glamorous application, it makes an excellent meal prep as well, as the elements hold up quite well and don't go watery or soggy.

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

However you eat it, it tastes fantastic, and I hope you enjoy it!

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 sweet potato
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 cup quinoa
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
The juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup whole almonds
1 large handful green beans
200-250 grams hummus
1/2 teaspoon za'atar, or to taste
2 blood oranges (or regular oranges if not in season), peeled and sliced horizontally

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Peel the sweet potato and chop into 2-cm chunks. Place on a baking tray. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle over the cayenne and cumin. Stir to combine. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked through and with some dark brown patches. Set aside.
Place the quinoa in a small saucepan. Pour 2 cups of water over. Place over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Clamp on a lid, turn the heat down to the minimum, and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked through. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Tip the quinoa into a large mixing bowl.
Add the red onion, lemon juice, and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir together with a fork.
Place the raisins in a bowl and cover with boiling water from a kettle. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so and then drain, and add to the quinoa.
Roughly chop the almonds and toast in a dry frying pan over medium heat or until lightly golden brown in parts and fragrant. Tip into the quinoa bowl and stir well.
Top and tail the green beans, and cook in salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Refresh in cold water and drain.
Get out a large serving platter. Spread the hummus in a swirly fashion over the plate. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with za'atar. Arrange the quinoa, green beans, and blood orange slices on the platter. (Alternatively, mix everything except the hummus and za'atar in a serving bowl, then top with za'atar and hummus to serve).
Serves 4 as a hearty meal, 8-12 as a side

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

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1 comments

  1. Is it weird that I love salad so much and get excited over it? Probably! I just love the flavours of this and the addition of hummus because hummus makes everything better :)

    ReplyDelete

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