Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad

A Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad recipe perfect for lunch every day of the week. This easy summer-inspired salad is made with fresh vegetables, like green beans, corn and tomatoes, and a simple sweet Dijon dressing that is delicious served warm or cold. Give this clean eating meal prep recipe a try!

Fluffy quinoa dressed with a sweet maple Dijon dressing (yes!) with fresh summery vegetables like green beans and corn and tomatoes mixed with herbs like parsley and tarragon (yes! yes! yes!) that makes a pretty fantastic side dish for dinnertime or a quick and easy salad for lunch on the go.

Best of all this big bowl of squeaky-clean goodness is completely gluten-free and definitely so, so, SO easy to make… Grab your forks and dig in, friends!

MAKING REAL FOOD EASY AND DELICIOUS WITH QUINOA SALAD…

I love this recipe because it is all the things I love about late summer produce – corn on the cob, green beans, tomatoes, the fresh herbs. Nothing tastes more like late-August/early-September than this!

Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad

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• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

A Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad recipe perfect for lunch every day of the week. This easy summer-inspired salad is made with fresh vegetables, like green beans, corn and tomatoes, and a simple sweet Dijon dressing that is delicious served warm or cold. Give this clean eating, meal prep recipe a try!

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Ingredients

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For the Salad:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup finely chopped cooked green beans
• 1 cup cooked corn kernels (best if cut straight from the cob)
• 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 2 large green onions (scallions; green and white parts; about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped (optional but highly recommended)

For the Dressing:

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or use white balsamic or wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey if not vegan)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small clove of garlic, finely minced or grated
• Salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

For the salad:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the quinoa, chopped green beans, corn, tomatoes, green onion, parsley and tarragon. Stir to combine.
2. Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine well. Season salad with salt and pepper to taste.

For the Dressing:

1. Add all the oil, vinegar, maple syrup and mustard to a mason jar with tight-fitting lid and shake well, until combined and smooth. Alternatively, whisk all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.

Notes

2 cups of cooked quinoa is approximately 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa.

Grainy Dijon mustard or the tradition smooth Dijon mustard can be used here depending on your preference.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes

HOW TO MAKE THIS EASY SUMMERY VEGAN QUINOA SALAD RECIPE…

This recipe uses leftover green (or yellow!) beans and corn on the cob and garden fresh tomatoes. You can definitely cook the bean and corn to order, let them cool and then go to town with the summery vegan quinoa salad …but if you are anything like me you cook enough vegetables to feed a family of 6 when you are only a family of 2. We always have tons of leftovers. As for the tomatoes, I prefer the little tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes) and you can Slice ‘em, chop ‘em or leave ’em whole – however you like them.

Seriously though, this tomato-green bean-corn mix is a perfect combination. And especially when dressed in a (completely vegan) cleaned-up take on the classic honey mustard, made from scratch with maple syrup, Dijon mustard and garlic. It works so well here (heart eyes for days!!).

And let’s not forget about those herbs! Parsley and, if you can get your hands on it, tarragon.

I use parsley in just about everything. It’s yummy and bright and green and always just seems to fit in (and also, more leafy greens for the win!). But tarragon?

I can’t say I’ve really ever used it before. The grocery stores in my area don’t have the greatest selection of fresh herbs on the best of days and, let’s be real, it’s licorice flavour never really got me all that excited. And if it weren’t for my patio herb garden and that 1 lonely tarragon plant I’m growing – because when we were herb plant shopping we just had to get one of everything – this salad would not be the same. The tarragon and the sweet/garlicky Dijon and the veggies come together in a great way. But if you can’t get your hands on fresh tarragon, simply omit or use more parsley instead.

MORE ABOUT THIS QUINOA SALAD WITH GREEN BEANS AND CORN…

If you’ve ventured around this Always Nourished part of the internet before you know that I L.O.V.E. quinoa with all my heart. And I must say, I’ve been on a huuuge quinoa kick lately. Like, even more than normal if that is even possible! (And if you haven’t noticed you must go check out these fab quinoa posts – easy quinoa salad with garden veggies, sweet potato quinoa salad and roasted broccoli chickpea quinoa bowls.

But wait! What is quinoa and why do I love it so much? 3 simple words – protein (a complete plant protein to be exact!), fiber (and a healthy dose of it!) and minerals (like calcium, magnesium and iron!), of course. But if we are being honest, the number one reason quinoa is my go-to grain because it’s super quick and easy to cook.

Quinoa, water and/or stock and 15 minutes tops. Unlike its other whole-grain friends, like brown rice, which takes up to 35 or 45 minutes to cook. Some days I just don’t have time for that. So quinoa it is more often than not!

And this quick-cooking quinoa also happens to make delicious salads that are perfect for lunch any day of the week. Quinoa salads are a clean-eating, meal prepping dream because they have a pretty long shelf life in the fridge (3-4 days), are easy (seriously just throw it in a (glass) container and you’re good to go) and are so nutritious to keep you fueled all afternoon.

Don’t believe me? Just give this Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad a try!!

The Summery Vegan Quinoa Salad was originally published in August 2016. The recipe and photos were updated in September 2018. Thank you for supporting Always Nourished and making recipes like this one possible!