Recipe: Quinoa, tomato and peanut salad with honey cumin dressing

This fresh salad is simple to make - just cook the quinoa and mix everything else in.

I love the texture of this salad - with little pops of chew, crunch and that signature delicate, couscous-like bite of quinoa.

This salad is juicy, satiating, fresh and feels like summer, yet it will definitely fill you up.

The dressing is sweet and tangy, with a hint of cumin, and is the perfect pair for fresh cucumber, tomato and mint. Dried apricots add an interesting sweetness and chewy texture, and peanuts add crunch and a beautiful nuttiness.

This salad is amazing with a soft-poached egg on top - the yolk will run and perform as a silky sauce on top. Add some chicken or bacon too if you like, to make it a more substantial meal.

Quinoa, tomato and peanut salad with honey cumin dressing

Serves four as a main or eight as a side

Ingredients

● 200g dry quinoa

● 200g tomatoes, diced

● 150g cucumber, diced 1cm

● One small onion, finely diced

● 75g dried apricots, diced

● 50g roasted peanuts, chopped

● 15g fresh mint, finely chopped

For the dressing:

● Four Tbsp olive oil

● Four Tbsp red wine vinegar

● One and a half Tbsp honey, gently warmed to liquefy

● Two tsp salt

● One tsp ground cumin

● One tsp ground coriander

1. Place the quinoa in a large pot and add over 550ml water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low and cover with a lid. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed, the quinoa is tender and the white “tails” are beginning to detach. Add more water as necessary. Drain and allow to cool completely.

2. Whisk all ingredients for the dressing together in a large bowl. Add the cooled quinoa, along with all other salad ingredients, and toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com.

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