Guest Post | Fruit & Nut Quinoa Salad

Today I have a guest post from fellow vegetarian and all round lovely lady, Liz from I Spy Plum Pie. Liz is a Melbourne based blogger who writes about all things ethical and sustainable. She always has lots of delicious vegetarian recipes to share so I asked her to do a guest post for me.

I never used to use nuts in my cooking very often – I just wasn’t a huge fan and so avoided them unless they were an integral part of something I was making. Now, I throw nuts in pretty anything I can, and it is rare for me to make a salad that doesn’t involve at least one type of nut, I just love the crunch factor. Just don’t try and make me eat peanut butter, it’s not happening.

When Hannah asked if I’d like to share a recipe with her readers I decided to make the nuttiest, fruitiest quinoa salad I could come up with – so here’s the recipe!

Ingredients List:

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup walnuts

1/3 cup pistachios 

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup dried cranberries

large handful basil leaves

large handful mint leaves

feta cheese

juice of half a lemon

2 tbs olive oil

Steps:

1. Rinse quinoa then cook as per packet directions

2. Roughly cut all the nuts

3. Dry roast the nuts until fragrant, then leave to cool

4. Chop the apricot into small pieces

5. Roughly chop the mint and tear the basil leaves

6. Once quinoa is cooked, leave to cool slightly

7. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil in a jar with salt and pepper

8. Mix the fruit and nuts through the quinoa, followed by the herbs, feta and then drizzle through the lemon juice

9. Enjoy!