Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Cashews, Feta and Mint

This salad recipe is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

Well, the snow has finally arrived to Toronto. Now, I understand that there are plenty of places in both Canada and the States that have had plenty of snow, but the white flakes have not fallen in T.O. up to today. It is not much of a snowfall though and I do not expect it to stay on the ground. Either way, the kids were excited going to school this morning knowing that snow, in any amount, was coming! I, on the other hand, am not excited.

I love Christmas season and am always eager to get the tree and other decorations up. I love watching Christmas movies (Christmas Vacation anyone??). I know that snow is important for many people during the holiday season, but I could go along fine without it.

This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

I am excited to share today’s recipe with you. As much as I enjoyed baking over the past month and posting some classic cookie and square recipes, I was looking forward to the freedom of posting dishes other than sweets. Today I have a recipe that uses quinoa.

A couple months ago I posted a recipe for roast chicken with quinoa stuffing. This recipe uses quinoa in a salad. The more I cook with and eat quinoa, the more I like it. It is simple to cook quinoa and seems to have great versatility.

Toast the cashews before chopping them to enhance their flavour.

This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Cashews, Feta and Mint

This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.
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This salad is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup quinoa
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cup cashews chopped
  • 3 cups strawberries quartered
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint thinly sliced
  • 1 cup feta crumbled
  • 1/3 cup white grape juice
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 10 mint leaves

Instructions

  • In a pot, bring the water to a boil. Dump in the quinoa, cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the quinoa rest for 5 more minutes. Run the quinoa under cold water to rinse it then let it drain.
  • Make the dressing by adding the juice, oil, honey and mint leaves to a blender. Blend until smooth.
  • Assemble the salad by adding all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the salad dressing. Serve cold.

Categories

This salad recipe is light and fresh with the strawberries and mint but earthy with the quinoa. The feta provides a salty rich flavour and the cashews give a nutty texture.

Did you try this recipe?

Leave a comment and let me know how it turned out. Or, take a picture to share on Instagram and tag me @theblackpeppercorn.

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14 comments

  • Terrific combination of flavors, even the grape juice..NICE!

    • Reply
  • I have been looking for a new idea for quinoa and I think I found the next recipe I have to try! Thanks for sharing it looks amazingly delish! I too have noticed taste spotting is rather biased! I think you have wonderful pictures! Have a wonderful week of family and food!

    • Reply
  • You come up with the most interesting flavor combinations! Bet it felt good to break out the heavy artillery (pots and pans) after a month’s worth of cookie sheets. 🙂

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  • Wonderful combination you have here! I love quinoa, but strawberries and mint make me think of summer (which I miss right now), and cashews are delicious in anything!

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  • Oh, gosh, this looks great, Steve! I’ve already overdosed on sweets and it’s not even officially December! I love all the flavors in your salad…need to find some decent strawberries and make a batch 🙂

    • Reply
  • Congratulations Alli!
    Steve that looks festive! I avoid eating strawberries on wintertime, but I cant argue that it’s a delicious fruit any time!

    • Reply
  • I love quinoa and really should be eating more of it! Your delicious recipe here should help!
    I see your comment regarding tastespotting and some other sites. Ha-I quit submitting after all the rejections and seeing a picture of 2 raw string beans getting chosen!

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  • I’ve never cooked quinoa before and I really need to try it since it’s the new “it” grain right now. I just can’t get over how it looks. The first time I saw it, I thought they were maggots — haha I’m SORRY, I just had to say it. Yours looks great, though. I love that you mixed in fruit & nuts. Feta..mmmm 🙂

    • Reply
    • ewwww!! LOL- too funny. It tastes great and yeah it is the ‘it’ grain right now for sure! I prefer it over couscous. I find couscous needs to have a sauce cause it can be too dry.

      • Reply
  • Awesome looking salad. I love the idea of cashews in there.

    Your photos are very good. Do you submit to Tastespotting, Foodgawker and tasteologie?

    • Reply
    • I have submitted, but get rejected. Those sites drive me nuts. So much emphasis on photos that are perfect for lighting, composition and exposure etc. It’s funny cause it drives me crazy but I keep submitting. LOL – There are times I look at pictures that get accepted and think “THAT got accepted and some of mine didn’t?” Anyway, thats that. 😛

      • Reply
      • I figured you would get accepted most of the time. It looks to me that you are a better photographer than me. I’m desperately working on it though, and I WILL get there.

        I got one on Tastespotting, and 5 now on Tasteologie, which seems to be a bit more relaxed than the others. The traffic from there is amazing though.

        • Reply
  • I love this flavor combo, Steve. Quinoa is a staple in our house, we are having some for dinner tonight. This sounds so lovely!

    • Reply
  • What a perfect salad, Steve! I love quinoa and I think we are having some with dinner tonight. Great combo with these flavors!

    • Reply

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