Mediterranean Diet Friendly Quinoa Avocado Salad with Turmeric Lemon Dressing
This vibrant grain salad is everything a warm-weather bowl should be — colorful, satisfying, and packed with ingredients that genuinely taste good together. Creamy avocado, juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and fresh herbs all come together over fluffy quinoa for a dish that feels both light and filling at the same time. The real star is the golden turmeric lemon dressing, whisked together with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, ginger, and garlic — bright, earthy, and just bold enough to tie every component together. Olive oil, whole grains, legumes, and plenty of fresh produce are the backbone of this style of eating, and this salad checks every one of those boxes without any effort. Spreading the cooked quinoa out to cool before tossing keeps the texture fluffy rather than clumped, so the dressing coats every grain evenly. A handful of dry-roasted pumpkin seeds folded in at the end adds a satisfying crunch that makes this feel like a complete meal rather than a side dish. It comes together with minimal cooking and no complicated techniques, making it an easy go-to for weeknight dinners or meal prep lunches.
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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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