Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad

A quinoa salad loaded with grilled bell peppers, zucchini, asparagus, snap peas, broccoli and corn makes a healthy and delicious light summer meal.

During the warmer months, I have a tendency to buy way too many vegetables and fruit.  Everything just looks so darn good and you can’t beat the lower prices.

Plus, since I’m bringing along my two munchkins who don’t always make grocery shopping the easiest, I’d rather grab as many things as I can in that one trip than have to make the trek to go back in case I forget anything.

Sometimes I go a little bit too overboard and on those weeks I forget we have dinner plans or are out of town visiting family, the produce ends up going bad before I get a chance to use it.

I hate having to waste food.  Unfortunately,  there are some weeks I can’t always beat the clock and cook or eat every ingredient in my produce drawer fast enough.

That’s why I was thrilled to try out OXO’s new line of GreenSaver boxes!  They are awesome food storage units that help keep your produce fresher longer.

Did you know that 25% of the fresh fruits and vegetables purchased by U.S. Consumers are wasted annually before being consumed?

There are three main reasons produce rots and spoils:

1. Ethylene Gas – Fruits and vegetables give off ethylene gas which speeds up the ripening process and causes over-ripening and produce to go bad.
2. Improper Airflow – When produce rests against the walls of storage containers, bags and crisper drawers, moisture can build up and cause rotting.
3. Uncontrolled Humidity – every fruit and vegetable requires a perfect balance of humidity to stay crisp and prevent wilting and different kinds of product require different humidity levels.

The OXO GreenSaver line of products uses a unique system to keep produce fresher, longer. They are made with special carbon filters that can absorb ethylene gas, promote airflow and control humidity.

I tested out the storage unit with some fresh sweet peppers sent to me from Melissa’s Produce.  The peppers fit perfectly in the produce keeper and tucked away neatly in my fridge.  The peppers stayed nice and plump even after more than a week in my fridge.

Our dinners have been really simple lately and involve lots of grilling -I love summertime grilling since it gets us out of the hot kitchen.

One of the dishes we made was this Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad.  This salad is simple to customize with any vegetables you have on hand.  We used a mix of the sweet red, orange and yellow peppers along with some zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, sweet corn, sugar snap peas and a few sun-dried tomatoes.

I tossed those together with some cooked quinoa and drizzled a light citrus vinaigrette along with some fresh herbs and it made the perfect side that would pair well with any protein you like.

A healthy summer salad that’s so simple and delicious.

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Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

A quinoa salad loaded with grilled bell peppers, zucchini, asparagus, snap peas, broccoli. sun-dried tomatoes and corn makes a healthy and delicious light summer meal.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: healthy salad recipe, salad with quinoa, summer salad recipe

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 329 kcal

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 sweet red peppers seeded and quartered
• 2 sweet yellow or orange peppers seeded and quartered
• 2 zucchini peeled and cut into rounds
• 2 ears of fresh corn corn silk removed, husks on
• 8-10 asparagus spears trimmed
• 1/2-1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup sugar snap peas ends trimmed
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

Citrus Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 tablespoon fresh mint chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or to taste
• juice from 2 limes can also substitute for 1 lemon instead
• 1-2 teaspoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa according to package instructions, then drain really well and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, whisk all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl.
3. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
4. Grill the ears of corn separately on a rear rack, away from direct flame. Rotate every five minutes or so. After 10-20 minutes, when the corn is tender, remove and set aside to cool. Strip off the husks and carefully slice the kernels off the cob. Set aside.
5. Meanwhile, toss or brush the red peppers, yellow peppers, zucchini, asparagus. broccoli and sugar snap peas with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Grill peppers, zucchini and asparagus for 6-8 minutes per side, until lightly charred but still al dente. Wrap broccoli and snap peas in foil and place on the grill for 8 minutes.
6. Remove from the grill and allow to cool slightly. Chop all of the vegetables to the desired size.
7. Combine the grilled vegetables, corn, sun-dried tomatoes and cooked quinoa in a serving bowl.
8. Toss with the vinaigrette and then fold in the parsley and basil.
9. Adjust seasoning to taste with more salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm or room temperature.

Recipe Notes

To serve, you can either slice the grilled veggies and add them to the quinoa as a salad, or serve the salad the grilled veggies on the side.

Nutrition Facts

Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Amount Per Serving (1 salad (1/4 recipe))

Calories 329 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 65mg3%

Potassium 1408mg40%

Carbohydrates 53g18%

Fiber 10g40%

Sugar 14g16%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 3550IU71%

Vitamin C 244.7mg297%

Calcium 99mg10%

Iron 6mg33%

* Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy using the WPRM recipe calculator. It is best to make your own calculations to ensure accuracy. We expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclosure: I was kindly provided with an OXO GreenSaver Produce Keeper and bags of Melissa’s Produce sweet peppers free of charge and was not compensated for my review.  All opinions and recipe are 100 % my own.

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