Quinoa salad: a grain that must be rinsed and toasted
Quinoa carries saponins on the grain — a natural protective coating that tastes bitter and soapy. Many disappointing quinoa salads come from exactly this: the grain was not rinsed. The second step, which few recipes mention, is toasting it dry before cooking; it takes three minutes and turns a neutral grain nutty. Only then can you build a salad that tastes of something rather than merely filling you up.
Your own work in that: 8 min.
- Quinoa 25 min
- Vegetables 12 min
- Tossing 8 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneRinse the grain
Tip the quinoa into a fine sieve and rinse under cold water for a full minute, rubbing the grains with your hand, until the water runs clear and stops foaming. That foam is saponin — leave it and the finished salad carries a bitter, soapy note no dressing will cover.
Ingredients: 200 g quinoa · 400 ml water · 1 tsp salt · 1 pcs bay leaf
TipEven grain labelled pre-rinsed is worth rinsing. Producers remove most of the saponins, but the remainder is enough to taste.
Rinse until the water stops foamingToast it dry
Tip the drained grain into a dry pan and toast 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until it dries out, smells nutty and some grains start to pop. It is much like toasting rice for risotto: toasting builds a flavour boiling alone never gives.
Three minutes, until it smells nuttyCook it one to two
Add the water (400 ml for 200 g of grain), the salt and bay leaf, bring to the boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat 15 minutes. Take it off and leave covered 5 minutes. It is done when each grain shows an uncurled white germ ring.
TipDon't stir while it cooks. Stirring releases starch and the quinoa turns sticky instead of fluffy.
A white germ ring means it is doneFluff and cool it
Remove the bay leaf and fluff with a fork, lifting from the bottom. Spread it thinly on a tray and leave 10 minutes to cool. Warm quinoa tipped onto the vegetables would cook the cucumber and melt the feta.
Chop the vegetables and mix the dressing
While the quinoa cooks and cools, halve the tomatoes, dice the cucumber and onion finely, chop the herbs. Shake the dressing in a jar: oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, cumin, salt, pepper. Cut the avocado last and squeeze lemon over it so it doesn't brown.
Ingredients: 300 g cherry tomatoes · 1 pcs cucumber · 1 pcs avocado · ½ pcs red onion · 150 g feta · 15 pcs fresh mint · ½ bunch parsley
Avocado cut last, squeezed with lemonToss and season
Toss the quinoa with the vegetables and dressing, then crumble the feta and add the avocado, folding gently, at the end. Taste: quinoa absorbs a lot of salt and acid, so you will usually need the juice of the remaining half lemon.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp olive oil · 1½ pcs lemon, juice · 1 clove garlic · ½ tsp ground cumin · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Feta and avocado last, folded gently
Before you start
Three days of lunchboxes
It keeps three days in the fridge, but add fresh avocado each day. Everything else can be mixed in from the start — quinoa does not go soft the way pasta does.
A warm version
The same salad works served warm, with roasted squash or sweet potato in place of the cucumber. In autumn it beats the summer version.
How much grain per person
50 g dry quinoa per portion as a side, 80 g as a main. It triples in volume, so it is easy to cook too much.
Instead of quinoa
Bulgur, pearl couscous or pearl barley. Dry toasting improves all of them, but check the packet for the water and cooking time. Note: all three contain gluten, so the salad is no longer gluten free.
