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This Apricot and Edamame Quinoa Salad is a healthy, delicious and nutritious vegetarian salad recipe perfect for lunch or dinner! With fresh apricots and edamame and a zesty lemon dressing, this salad doesn’t skimp on flavor.
This salad would be great for a picnic. I wish I could say this statement with confidence, but thanks to Mother Nature, I can’t. Remember my summer bucket list post? Well last weekend C and I decided to tackle #1, rent kayaks and have a picnic on the Toronto Islands.
I called and rented us a tandem kayak and prepped a whole spread for our lunch. I made this quinoa salad, chopped veggies and made a dip, picked up some charcuterie and cheese along with some grapes to munch on. We even stayed in on Saturday so that we could be up bright and early on Sunday morning. By this I mean that Orange is the New Black had just been released and we needed to get through as much of the season as possible…
Fast-forward to Sunday morning, I bounced out of bed, poured myself some iced coffee and started organizing our stuff for the day. I think I must have had my excitement goggles on because I failed to notice the grey, scary-looking sky outside. This observation only occurred when I received a call from the rental company informing me I could cancel because they were calling for a 90% chance of rain. Life. Shattered.
Yes, I am being dramatic but a very important thing to know about me is that my mood is entirely dictated by the weather. So basically when they called and informed me of the impending weather I went from hero to zero in 2.5 seconds. Does that statement work when used backwards? Whatever. Sorry it’s pouring rain outside right now which means I’m feeling sassy.
I chose the wrong place to live considering it is basically winter in Toronto 8 months of the year. I avoid the outside like the plague (in fact I think winter might be the plague) from October to May and not a chance am I going outside when it’s raining. I’m partially allergic to rain (I made that up) and also have very curly hair so if it’s straight it CANNOT get wet. Otherwise I wasted 45 minutes of my life straightening my hair, only to end up with an afro again by the end of the day.
So as you can imagine, when I discovered our picnic had a descent chance of being rained out I immediately cancelled everything and spent the rest of the morning sulking. Eventually I snapped out of it and baked myself a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp which I promptly demolished in less than 12 hours. And we had a nice little picnic with this Apricot and Edamame Quinoa Salad at our kitchen table. Though I’m still a little bitter… 😉
PrintApricot & Edamame Quinoa Salad
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3 fresh apricots, pitted & chopped
- 3 green onions (white and light green only), sliced
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- 1 cup bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta (optional)
- juice, 1 lemon
- 2 T white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
- In a large bowl combine cooked quinoa, apricots, green onion, edamame, bell pepper, sunflower seeds and feta (if using).
- In a separate bowl combine lemon juice, vinegar, and dijon.
- Add dressing to quinoa mixture and stir to combine.
- Top with paprika, salt and pepper.
- Let sit in refrigerator for at least one hour to soak in the flavours. I recommend leaving it in the fridge overnight before eating. It gets better the longer it sits.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
I can do rain, but I hate, hate, HATE the wind. That being said, rain isn’t my favourite thing either. Did I mention that it rained almost every single day that I was in Kauai? And that we had to cancel our paddle boarding and kayaking plans because of it? I was planning on heading up to the mountains to go hiking last weekend, and yeah… that one got rained out too. So I definitely feel ya on the sulking. I turned to chocolate orange bread for comfort though…
Yummy! This looks amazing and I think my favorite part would have to be the fresh apricots. Love it!
Ugh, I hate rain! Last week it rained every single day for a week. It was so gloomy and insanely humid. At least we’re getting some sun this week!
Booooo rain. I’m not a fan of it either – I tried to take the dog for a walk yesterday morning and we got to the end of the block before it started pouring. Currently debating whether to take him for a walk now, but it’s horribly depressing-looking outside so I’m afraid it’s going to happen again…
NOOOOOO rain ruins everything. It’s raining right now and I’m just pissed that I’m going to need an umbrella. Kayaking is on my summer bucket list too even though Miguel and I went two summers ago and I got tired after like 10 mins hahah. So we just sat in the water. Still fun…
Mmm I love how much protein this has! Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a picnic soon. It’s all thunderstorms and heat here!
Ugh – I feel your pain -a rained out picnic is no fun, but this salad anywhere would make the sun come out – at least in my soul (yes I am corny) – love the combo of apricots, edamame, sunflower seeds and feta!
Yall have winter for 8 months??? YIKES!!
My friend and I love watching the kayakers pull up and dock at one of our favorite restaurants. I have never been on a kayak and probably never will attempt one because I don’t love the water or water activities. Dining by the water in summer is another story…I am affected by weather – I am slowly hating winter as I get older and can’t get enough summer sunshine. Total reverse of who I used to be. I could do without rainy gloomy days when they happen on Mondays. Or on weekends where I planned to be at the beach.
I thought I hated all the Vancouver rain…until I moved to Florida and it never stops Sunning! (is that a word?)
But, kitchen table picnics can be fun too…and this salad is amazing! I would have never paired apricots with edamame…yumo! Pinned!
Rain. The worst. Only the environmentalist in me can tolerate it, because you know, ecosystems and whatnot. A long time ago I self-diagnosed myself with seasonal affective disorder because it simply cannot be normal to feel like life has no meaning by the end of the winter every year. Probably my psych degree from google doesn’t qualify me to make that determination, but all I know is it wasn’t a problem when I lived in Florida and had plenty of sunshine, and that’s evidence! As for the rain, as far as I’m concerned rain is the universe telling us not to bother getting up. I have the hardest time peeling myself off the bed/couch and accomplishing anything if it’s raining. On the bright side, this quinoa looks delicious and summery and I’m sure it will be perfect at your picnic when you finally have it!
I am allergic to rain too….well cold weather. Pretty sure it was a sign from God for you to be in Australia that day 😉
Don’t lie about that crumble cake. It was mince beef. Now let’s focus on this sweet and savoury delight.