BHA & BHT Free Quinoa Avocado Salad with Turmeric Lemon Dressing
This vibrant salad is a celebration of fresh, whole ingredients — creamy avocado, crisp cucumber, juicy cherry tomatoes, and fluffy quinoa all tossed together with handfuls of bright parsley and mint. The real star is the golden turmeric lemon dressing, which brings a warm, earthy depth that makes every forkful feel intentional and alive. Because every single component here is made from scratch using real, recognizable ingredients, you sidestep the preservatives like BHA and BHT that sneak into so many packaged dressings, seasoning blends, and processed grains. Store-bought salad dressings in particular are notorious for containing synthetic antioxidants, so whipping up this simple olive oil and lemon base is genuinely worth the extra two minutes. The dry-roasted pumpkin seeds add a satisfying crunch and a subtle nuttiness that rounds out the textures beautifully. Cooling the quinoa before assembling is a small but important step — it keeps the avocado from going mushy and the herbs from wilting, so the salad stays fresh and gorgeous. This is the kind of bowl that looks impressive enough for a dinner party but is honestly easy enough to pull off on a busy weeknight.
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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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