Sesame Free Quinoa Avocado Salad with Turmeric Lemon Dressing
This vibrant grain salad is a celebration of fresh, bold flavors — creamy avocado, juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and fragrant herbs all tossed with fluffy quinoa and a golden turmeric-lemon dressing that tastes anything but ordinary. The dressing gets its warm, earthy depth from ground turmeric and ginger, brightened by a generous hit of fresh lemon juice and zest, making every bite feel lively and satisfying. Crunchy dry-roasted pumpkin seeds add a nutty finish that rounds out the textures beautifully. For anyone navigating sesame allergies or sensitivities, this kind of salad can be a minefield at restaurants and delis where tahini-based dressings are everywhere — but here, every single ingredient is straightforward and easy to verify. The olive oil dressing is made entirely from scratch, so there's no guesswork about hidden sesame oil or paste sneaking in. It comes together with simple cook-and-cool quinoa, a quick whisk of the dressing, and a gentle fold at the end to keep the avocado intact. Fresh, nourishing, and genuinely craveable, this is the kind of salad you'll want to bring to every potluck and keep on rotation all week.
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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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