Vegan quinoa salad with asparagus and toasted nuts recipe

Our vegan (opens in new tab) quinoa salad with asparagus and toasted nuts is a perfect filling salad for a midweek meal. Using sachets of pre-cooked quinoa makes this vegan quinoa salad even easier to make! This simple salad combines high-protein quinoa with fresh asparagus, rich toasted nuts, and a flavour-packed dressing to make it that bit more special. Quinoa is a wheat free alternative to other starchy grains, making this salad gluten free as well as vegan! This vegan quinoa salad contains no animal products at all, but is so filling and tasty. Using fresh herbs is a great way to add flavour to vegan dishes, and toasted nuts add extra protein. This salad is the perfect dish to serve for vegan friends and family, but everyone else will love it too. This summer salad will keep well, so leftovers will make a delicious packed lunch the next day! For a healthy but hearty salad to enjoy on summer evenings, try making this quick and easy vegan quinoa salad with asparagus and toasted nuts.

Ingredients

For the dressing

• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 chilli, finely chopped
• 1tsp sesame oil
• 125ml olive oil
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1 bunch basil, torn
• 1 bunch mint, chopped

For the salad

• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 2 x 250g packets Merchant gourmet cooked quinoa
• 100g mixed cashew nuts and macadamias, toasted
• 400g asparagus tips, blanched
• 2tbsp sunflower seeds

Method

1. To make the dressing, combine the chopped shallots, chilli, sesame oil, olive oil, lemon, and herbs in a small bowl.  Then, in a large bowl, toss together the spinach leaves, quinoa mix, toasted nuts and asparagus. 

2. Stir the dressing through the quinoa mixture, pour into a serving dish, then top with sunflower seeds and serve.