Spring Salad with Quinoa and Herbed Avocado

This recipe for Spring Salad with Quinoa and Herbed Avocado is the perfect springtime dish. It has fresh and crunchy seasonal spring vegetables, black quinoa, a creamy herbed avocado mash, and a lemon-herb vinaigrette. 

I use spring veggies here, but this is a great salad to make year round and just switch up the ingredients according to what’s in season.

For the greens, my go-to for this type of salad is arugula. In addition to its peppery taste, arugula is also packed with nutrients and is high in beneficial dietary nitrates ~ which help lower blood pressure, reduce the amount of oxygen needed during exercise, and therefore improve athletic performance.

Arugula also contains minerals such as calcium and and potassium, and the vitamins A, C and K. And did you know arugula is in the cruciferous vegetable family? This also includes broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale.

Eating vegetables in this family of veg is associated with lower risks of some cancers. So arugula is much more than just a tasty green to add to your salads!

I love peppery arugula in this dish

Quinoa is one of my favorite “grains”. And I use air quotes here because it is technically a seed and not a grain in the traditional sense. That said, if you have never made quinoa I highly recommend. It is versatile in recipes, delicious, and also packed with nutrients. It is also considered a complete protein, so it’s great for plant-based diets.

The herby avocado mash was sort of an accidental upgrade to this recipe. Rather than just add sliced avo, I had the idea to do a sort of lighter version of guacamole. I just lightly mashed ripe avocado with lemon, fresh herbs and sea salt. As a bonus, having extra herby avocado mash on hand makes great avocado toast!

Herby avocado mash

Fennel is sort of a polarizing vegetable due to its anise/licorice-y flavor , so most people either love it or hate it.  I happen to love it, and it adds an interesting dimension of flavor to this dish.

The best way to slice this intimidating looking vegetable is to cut off green stalks, then lightly trim the bottom. Slice in half lengthwise, then (if eating raw) remove the core. Then you can cut thin slices (the thinner the better, in my opinion).

Fennel, a highly underrated veggie!

Fennel is also great roasted or grilled, where it takes on a mellow sweeter flavor. And save the fennel fronds for garnish, for either raw or roasted fennel.

To assemble the dish, I like to use a large shallow bowl or platter and keep each component separate for a nice presentation.

You can of course massage some of the dressing into the veggies before assembling on the platter, and then drizzle a little extra dressing over top to serve. Oh, and feel free to mix up the seeds (and/or add nuts). Pumpkin and hemp seeds would go well here, as would pine nuts, pistachios or almonds.

Spring Salad with Quinoa and Herbed Avocado

Think you will try this salad? Leave a comment and let me know, and tag me on Instagram if you do!

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Print Recipe

Spring Salad with Quinoa and Herbed Avocado

Fresh spring salad with peppery arugula, black quinoa, radish, carrot, fennel and toasted sunflower seeds

Course

Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Salad

Cuisine

American, Mediterranean

Keyword

gluten free, healthy, salads, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

Servings

Ingredients

Salad ingredients

• 1/3 cup raw black quinoa or sub rainbow or white quinoa
• 1 ripe avocado pitted
• 4 tbsp minced fresh herbs, *divided such as dill, chives, parsley
• 4 cups baby arugula
• 1 large carrot peeled and julienned or grated
• 1 small fennel bulb trimmed and julienned (you may not need all)
• 3-4 red radish sliced, and julienned if desired
• 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
• to taste flakey sea salt

Dressing ingredients

• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey or omit for vegan
• 1 tbsp *herbs from above*
• to taste salt & pepper

Course Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Salad Cuisine American, Mediterranean Keyword gluten free, healthy, salads, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian Servings Ingredients Salad ingredients 1/3 cup raw black quinoa or sub rainbow or white quinoa 1 ripe avocado pitted 4 tbsp minced fresh herbs, *divided such as dill, chives, parsley 4 cups baby arugula 1 large carrot peeled and julienned or grated 1 small fennel bulb trimmed and julienned (you may not need all) 3-4 red radish sliced, and julienned if desired 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds to taste flakey sea salt Dressing ingredients 1 lemon, juiced 2-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp honey or omit for vegan 1 tbsp *herbs from above* to taste salt & pepper

Instructions

1. cook quinoa according to package directions with a pinch of sea salt
2. in a small bowl mash avocado with most of the herbs, saving about 1 tablespoon for the dressing; season avo mash with a little flake salt to taste
3. to a small jar add lemon juice, olive oil, honey and reserved tablespoon of herbs; tighten the lid and shake vigorously to emulsify; season to taste with salt and pepper
4. in a large shallow serving bowl assemble ingredients as shown in picture (I like to section each ingredient for the presentation), drizzle with desired amount of dressing and serve right away

Recipe Notes

1. recipe makes 2 large or 4 small servings
2. see blog post for substitutions and variations

Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com