Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Paprika Vinaigrette

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was thrilled to be assigned A Fit and Spicy Life. Mellissa is a 30-something marketing manager who lives in Minneapolis who loves fitness, food, and wine – sounds like a great combo to me! Mellissa posts healthy, mouth-watering recipes (yes, I said those two words in the same sentence) as well wine and fitness posts. While usually I spend a lot of time hemming and hawing over which recipe to make, this month it was no contest. As soon as I saw Mellissa’s Quinoa, Garbanzo and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette I knew it was the one. Love at first sight, if you will.

Quinoa Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

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Like Mellissa I am also obsessed with quinoa and eat it at least once a week. I’ve made quinoa salads similar to this one before, but it was the smoked paprika vinaigrette that really got me excited. The great thing about salads like this is that you can easily switch up the ingredients based on what you like and have on hand. I swapped portobello mushrooms for the spinach, cilantro for the mint, and changed some of the measurements, but mostly kept Mellissa’s recipe as is. And I can tell you that this dish will be in regular rotation at our place.

Quinoa Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

5.0 from 7 reviews
Quinoa, Garbanzo and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette
 
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This healthful, vegetarian salad is incredibly nutritious and infinitely variable. Include your favorite vegetables, use parsley or mint instead of cilantro, or leave out the cheese to make it vegan.
Author:
Recipe Type: Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
  • Salt
  • 6 small or 3 large portabello mushrooms (about 6 ounces), sliced
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 (15- to 16-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 unpeeled cucumber, chopped
  • 6 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro/coriander
  • 1½ cups crumbled feta or Bulgarian cheese (about 7 ounces), divided
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2½ teaspoons smoked paprika
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • Pepper
Directions
  1. Put the quinoa in a large saucepan and 1¾ cup water, or enough water to cover quinoa by about 1 inch. Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and drain of any remaining liquid, if there is any. Allow to cool slightly.
  2. Heat a drop of olive oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) until very hot. Add the portabello mushrooms and cook until tender and cooked through. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook until fully absorbed, another minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
  3. Put the chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, cilantro, 1 cup of cheese, and half of the mushrooms in a large bowl.
  4. Add the cooled quinoa and toss gently to blend.
  5. Whisk vinegar and smoked paprika in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
  6. Pour dressing over salad; toss to coat.
  7. Sprinkle remaining feta and mushrooms over and serve immediately.
Notes
Gluten free, Kosher dairy, Vegetarian Can be easily made parve and vegan by omitting the cheese
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48 thoughts on “Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Paprika Vinaigrette”

  1. Mellissa

    So glad you liked this! The dressing is so unique and really make this salad. I love the addition of mushrooms too, that will go on my list to try next time I make this.

  5. Isabelle @ Crumb

    Love this! I’m on a total salad kick lately (as might be obvious from my SRC pick this month), and this one sounds like a real winner… especially since I’m just discovering quinoa and still don’t have a lot of good recipes for it. Can’t wait to try this one out!

  6. Cookingrookie

    This is a great salad! Must be such an energizing way to start the day! Wonderful pick :-).

    On a different note ;-), I would like to invite you to check out RecipeNewZ – a new photo-based recipe sharing network. It just launched today, and was built by your fellow SRC member 😉

    The best part of this site is: NOTHING IS REJECTED! ALL RECIPE PHOTOS ARE PUBLISHED and appear on RecipeNewZ minutes after you click Submit.

    I hope you try it: http://recipenewz.com (RecipeNewZ – with Z :-))

  11. Stephanie

    Ooo, another use for smoked paprika. I bought a jar for an SRC recipe and have been trying to come up with uses other than in refried beans. Salad dressing it is.

  22. Liz

    What a delectable salad…quinoa is so versatile and I’m loving this healthy recipe. Wonderful SRC pick~

  23. Suzi

    Mouth-watering is good and this salad fits those words. I do want to try the paprika dressing, never had that before. Great vegetarian dish.

  24. Miriyummy

    My daughter just came back from Barcelona and brought me some amazing smoked paprika. And I’ve got some gorgeous red quinoa in my pantry. How did you know to post something so perfect for dinner tonight?

  25. Joanne

    Quinoa and smoked paprika are two of my favorite ingredients! They make every dish about ten times better. This looks like such a tasty salad!

  27. mjskit

    I made quinoa for the second time ever last night and sure wish I had had this recipe! The one I used was o.k. but we both thought it needed more flavor. This smoked paprika vinaigrette certainly would have accomplished that! WOW! Huge fan of smoked paprika but never would have thought using it in a salad dressing. I bet it really made those portabellos jump out of the salad! Love it!

  28. susie

    I did chick peas this month as well, love them! I just bought some black quinoa, and was debating what to do with it…problem solved! I love grains in salads!

  31. Anna

    I love salads this time of year! Especially if they have quinoa and chickpeas – yum! The vinaigrette sounds amazing – a must-try for sure. 🙂

  32. Mindy

    I’m always looking for different ways to use my smoked paprika, and my six-year-old daughter loves quinoa, so this will be on my to-make list! (Visiting from Group C!) 🙂

  33. Hannah

    I can see why this recipe called out to you – love the smoked paprika vinaigrette, too. I will be trying this one soon.

  37. Vicky

    SOunds delicious! I’ve been cooking with quinoa a lot but have never thrown chick peas into the mix – will have to try this!

  38. kitchenriffs

    I like quinoa a lot, but I don’t yet eat it on a weekly basis! But it has such great taste – and is so good and healthy – that maybe I should. Anyway, this is a really nice recipe for the warm weather we’re beginning to enjoy. The Paprika Vinaigrette is really intriguing – love the flavors there. Nice recipe, nice post – thanks.

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