A Quinoa Salad with Orange and Pistachios is a great side dish for any time of the year. This salad is made with a mix of quinoa, Basmati rice, apricots, pistachios, orange juice and arugula leaves. It serves a crowd and is great for entertaining along side chicken or fish.
Honestly friends, this salad is one you need to make pronto! Full of flavour and downright delicious! Add it to your meal plan. The addition of apricots, pistachios and orange juice brings it to a whole new level of delicious. I asked for the recipe right away, and finally got around to making it this week. It is now filed in favourites!
Why You Want To Make This Quinoa Salad
- Exotic flavours – This is no regular salad with it citrus dressing and studded with dried apricots and pistachios
- Serves a crowd – This salad goes a long way in servings and is great for entertaining.
- Great for any season – This quinoa salad is great along side fresh summer barbecues as well as comforting winger dishes.
Note: Recipe has been adapted from Ottolenghi Red Rice and Quinoa Salad with Orange and Pistachios
Ingredients
- Fresh – onion, orange juice & zest, lemon juice, garlic and arugula leaves
- Dried goods – rice, quinoa, apricots and pistachios
- Seasonings – olive oil, salt and pepper
REMEMBER, The full recipe and instructions is always found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa and rice in two separate saucepans of boiling water. Cover each and reduce heat to low. Cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes and the rice for about 20. Note, if you are using the red rice it will take longer to cook. Once cooked, spread them out on baking trays to cool off.
- Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion, stir, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Leave to cool.
- In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, garlic and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the quinoa, rice, apricots and pistachios and stir well. Pour over the dressing and stir well to combine. Stir in the arugula just before serving.
- This salad is best served at room temperature. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and bring it to room temperature before serving.
What To Serve with The Quinoa Salad
This salad would go great with so many dishes. I’ve served it with my Roasted Moroccan Chicken before and it went really well. It would also go great with seafood like the Zesty Pan Seared Salmon or Lemon Crusted Baked Cod.
Enjoy the salad friends and I’ll see you in a few days with more inspiration for you kitchen. Keep on cooking!
Here’s Some More Great Quinoa Recipes To Try
Quinoa Salad with Orange & Pistachios
Ingredients
- 1 Cup quinoa
- 1 Cup rice
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- Juice and zest of one orange
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- Sea salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 Cup dried apricots roughly chopped
- 1/2 Cup pistachios roasted and chopped
- 2 Cups baby arugula leaves
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa and rice in two separate saucepans of boiling water. Cover each and reduce heat to low. Cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes and the rice for about 20. Note, if you are using the red rice it will take longer to cook. Once cooked, spread them out on baking trays to cool off.
- Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion, stir, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Leave to cool.
- In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, garlic and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the quinoa, rice, apricots and pistachios and stir well. Pour over the dressing and stir well to combine. Stir in the arugula just before serving.
- This salad is best served at room temperature. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and bring it to room temperature before serving.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
