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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
Urgh I am affected by the weather so much – especially if it is cold. I hate being cold!
Sometimes I wonder why I live in Scotland!
Ahh poor thing. Rain does suck, especially when curly hair is involved gah. Hope you enjoyed that yummy crisp and this salad. It looks super fresh and crisp and it is a bummer indeed that you didn’t get to eat it outside :'( xx
Bummer! I only dislike rain when I have to go somewhere or do something. Otherwise it’s great atmosphere to cozy up indoors to a movie or book.
Of course, since moving form Nebraska to California seven years ago I can’t complain about rainy winters. Especially since this last winter compared to living in Antarctica. If there’s anything worse than rain, it’s snow. When you come inside from snow, you’re just as wet as if you had been in rain, plus it’s COLD.
I was super depressed all last week because the weather was shit. And it just stinks to be outside in general when it rains. Part of me wants to say that that’s why i like snow more than rain, cause you won’t get soaked immediately… but then I remember the cold. Ew.
Love edamame, but still unsure about apricots. Perhaps this will convert me!
OMG. I’m only like three episodes in of Orange and I’m already freaking out that I won’t be able to finish it before I leave. I would like to spend the remainder of my time here in front of the screen faceplanting into this gorg salad!
I’m not a huge fan of Edamame but I’m willing to give this recipe a try because it looks so delicious!!! 😀
The only upside to rain is that I don’t have to remember to water my garden. I’m allergic to snow and ice, so winter is the worst and makes me super depressed. I don’t mind rain as much as long as it’s warm outside!
That salad looks delicious and summery, though, even if you only got to eat it in your kitchen!
What a pretty summer salad! I’m obsessed with apricots right now, so this is the perfect recipe for me. Can’t wait to recreate it!
I hate bad weather. That’s why winter sucks so much – the sky is grey for so much of the time. Cold weather and blue skies? I can actually do that. But cold weather and grey skies (or worse, SNOW), kill me now.
rain is such a bummer..hope you can do it soon again..my picnic basket usually has some sort of cold salad, cheese and crackers, and wine 🙂