Fresh strawberry salad featuring chopped spinach, quinoa, goat cheese and toasted almonds, tossed in lemon dressing. This salad is gluten free! Amounts listed below yield one big, dinner-sized serving of salad, so multiply as necessary.
Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Quinoa and Goat Cheese
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Recipe Modified from: cookieandkate
Ingredients
- Salad
- 2½ cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 5 to 6 strawberries (to yield ¾ to 1 cup sliced strawberries), hulled and cut into ¼-inch thick slices
- 1½ ounces chilled goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
- Quinoa
- ¼ cup quinoa, rinsed under running water in a fine mesh colander
- ½ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Lemon dressing
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa: In a small saucepan, combine the rinsed quinoa and ½ cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 to 17 minutes. Remove the pot from heat, sprinkle in ⅛ teaspoon salt and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Let the quinoa cool, uncovered, for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, honey and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper until emulsified. Set the dressing aside.
- Toast the almonds: In a small pan over medium heat, toast the almonds, stirring often, until they are fragrant and turning golden, about 5 minutes.
- Assemble the salad: In a bowl, combine the chopped spinach, sliced strawberries, warm quinoa and toasted almonds. Crumble goat cheese over the salad. Drizzle in just enough dressing to lightly coat the spinach (I only used about half of the dressing) and toss.
Photo Credit: cookieandkate