Artificial Flavors Free Quinoa Avocado Salad with Turmeric Lemon Dressing
This vibrant grain salad is the kind of bowl that looks like it took serious effort but comes together with straightforward, whole-food ingredients from start to finish. Creamy diced avocado, juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and a double hit of fresh herbs make every forkful interesting, while dry-roasted pumpkin seeds add a satisfying crunch. The real star is the golden dressing — a bright, punchy blend of fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, ground turmeric, ginger, and minced garlic whisked together with extra virgin olive oil until silky and emulsified. Because every single component is a recognizable whole ingredient, there's no need to squint at a label hunting for synthetic flavor additives or mystery "natural and artificial flavors" buried in a bottled dressing. Cooking your own quinoa and squeezing your own lemons means you control exactly what goes into the bowl — nothing more, nothing less. The technique of spreading the cooked quinoa out to cool before dressing it keeps the texture light and fluffy rather than clumped, which makes a real difference in the final dish. It's the kind of clean, colorful salad that satisfies whether you're serving it as a main or alongside something off the grill.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salad
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 english cucumber, diced
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dry-roasted pumpkin seeds
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1½ lemons)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- 1
Combine the rinsed quinoa, water, and ¼ tsp salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, until the water is fully absorbed and the quinoa tails have unfurled.
- 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the quinoa steam, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and spread onto a large plate or sheet pan to cool for at least 10 minutes, until no longer steaming.
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