Quinoa Salad: Watercress, Walnuts and Blue Cheese

A light but satisfying quinoa salad with a good mix of textures and flavours. Perfect for picnics or lunch boxes, it also makes an excellent summer lunch or supper. You’ll also find some top tips on how to cook quinoa and what to do with your asparagus offcuts.

Quinoa has been one of our staples for many years now, but we rarely have it in salad form. With the weather warming up (well we have had the odd day), thoughts turn to summer salads. What could be nicer than sitting outside on a summer’s day and eating a delicious salad for lunch or supper?

Summer Salads

I’m sure I’m not the only one that wants to Get Summer Started. So I teamed up with Sainsbury’s to create a light yet filling salad. One which would be suitable for all types of summer eating. As well as making an excellent lunch or supper, this quinoa salad lends itself equally well as a starter to an elegant dinner party, a picnic or a packed lunch.

Working from home, I don’t always manage to take a proper lunch break, but sometimes when the weather is nice, I make an effort to get out of the house and take my lunch to Westbourne Gardens, a little known walled garden in Liskeard. There I can switch off from work for a while and savour the peaceful atmosphere and enjoy my lunch. 

Quinoa, Watercress, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad with Roasted Asparagus

We’re very lucky here in Liskeard to live in the vicinity of three excellent cheese makers. One of these is the award winning Cornish Blue, which is, incidentally, one of my all time favourites. This and quinoa were my starting points. A blue cheese needs something robust to stand up to it, so walnuts and watercress were next on my list.

Asparagus was an after thought and isn’t integral to the salad But it does give seasonal interest as well as a bit of additional style. Asparagus is in full season now and I was somewhat excited to buy my first bunch of Cornish asparagus the other day. 

Instead of roasting the asparagus, as I’ve done for this recipe, you can griddle them. Take a look at my simple griddled asparagus recipe to find out how to do this.

I constructed the salad one sunny day and after taking the photographs, I dutifully tripped down to Westbourne Gardens where I sat in the dappled sunshine with a satisfied sigh and savoured my quinoa salad with watercress, walnuts, Cornish Blue and roasted asparagus. What a treat.

With a bit of forward planning, I made enough quinoa salad for us to have for supper that evening. CT tucked in with gusto and in between mouthfuls expressed his delight at not having his meal interrupted by an impromptu photo shoot.

The mix of textures and flavours make it both flavoursome and interesting. The crunchy toasted walnuts, robust cheese and peppery watercress combine well with the fluffy quinoa. The walnut and lemon dressing is light but flavoursome and is thoroughly absorbed by the quinoa.

How to Cook Quinoa

Quinoa can taste a little soapy if not cooked properly. It contains saponins that need to be washed off. Just rinsing the quinoa under a tap doesn’t do this very well. So I have perfected a much better method and my quinoa never tastes soapy. It’s also results in well cooked and fluffy grains.

So you start off by placing the quinoa in a small or medium sized saucepan with a tight fitting lid. The size of the pan will depend on how much you’re cooking. Cover the quinoa with water and bring to the boil. Cook it for two minutes. Then pour the contents of the pan into a sieve and rinse the quinoa under the tap.

Place it back in the pan, cover with water to twice the volume of quinoa. Bring back to a boil with the lid on, then simmer for ten minutes. Turn the heat off the pan, but leave the lid on so it continues to cook. Leave for at least another five minutes before using, then fluff up the quinoa with a fork.

Waste Not Asparagus Offcuts

When you snap off the woody bottoms from your asparagus spears, don’t throw them away. Just throw them into some salted boiling water and simmer for thirty minutes or so. You’ll end up with some very useful asparagus stock. I’ve used it in this quinoa salad recipe to cook the quinoa in. You can use it just as effectively to cook any other grains. It’s also great for adding to soups, stews or sauces.

If you’re not going to use it straight away, allow it cool down. Then cover it and it will keep in the fridge for two to three days.

Waste Not Blue Cheese

If you have any leftover cheese and you’re not sure what to do with it, try my easy blue cheese sauce. I like it best as a baked potato topping, but it also makes a good pasta sauce.

Alternatively, have a go at baking these walnut and blue cheese scones. They’re ever so good.

Other Quinoa Recipes You Might Like

• How to cook fluffy quinoa – with or without pesto
• Quinoa bowl with broccoli and pumpkin
• Red quinoa burgers

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this quinoa salad, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more summer eating ideas, I have plenty of salad recipes to choose from. All delicious of course.

Choclette x

Watercress Quinoa Salad. PIN IT.

Quinoa Salad – The Recipe

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5 from 4 votes

Quinoa, Watercress, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad with Roasted Asparagus

A light but satisfying quinoa salad with a good mix of textures and flavours. Perfect for picnics or lunch boxes, it makes an excellent summer lunch or supper.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Lunch, Picnics, Supper

Cuisine: British

Keyword: asparagus, blue cheese, quinoa, salad, summer, walnuts, watercress

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 390kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 125 g quinoa
• 6-8 asparagus spears
• sea salt flakes (I used Cornish sea salt)
• 1 drizzle lemon oil or rapeseed oil
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 1 organic lemon
• 3 tbsp walnut oil
• 75 g watercress finely chopped
• 40 g walnuts toasted and roughly chopped
• 75 g blue cheese roughly chopped (I used Cornish Blue)

Instructions

• Snap off the bottoms of the asparagus spears, reserving the actual spears for later. Simmer them in some water seasoned with a pinch of sea salt for about ten minutes or so to create an asparagus stock.
  6-8 asparagus spears, sea salt flakes
• Cover the quinoa with water and boil for about 2 minutes. Drain and return to the pan with about twice the amount of asparagus stock to quinoa. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat leaving the pan lid on to continue the cooking process.
  125 g quinoa
• Finely grate the zest from the lemon and add it to a small bowl with the shallot. Squeeze on the lemon juice and add a pinch of sea salt. Leave to marinade.
  1 organic lemon, 1 shallot
• Drizzle the asparagus with a little lemon oil, sprinkle on a pinch of sea salt flakes and roast at 200℃ (400℉, Gas 6) for ten minutes or until just tender.
  1 drizzle lemon oil
• Put the cooked quinoa in a large bowl and using a fork to keep it fluffy, mix in the shallot and lemon juice along with the walnut oil. Allow to cool a little.
  3 tbsp walnut oil
• Make sure the quinoa is no longer hot, then gently mix in the watercress followed by the walnuts and blue cheese.
  75 g watercress, 40 g walnuts, 75 g blue cheese
• Divide the mixture up into bowls or lunch boxes and top with a couple of roasted asparagus spears.

Notes

Makes enough for 4 people for a light lunch, or 2-3 people for dinner.

The asparagus is optional and if not wanted, water can be used instead of asparagus stock.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 282mg | Potassium: 437mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 923IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 3mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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Disclosure: Sainsbury’s sent me a shopping voucher so I could buy the ingredients for developing this quinoa salad recipe.