Warm Quinoa And Goats Cheese Salad With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Need a comforting, warm lunch – packed full of healthy goodness too? Try this vegetarian Warm Quinoa And Goats Cheese Salad With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette!

Happy New Year!!

I’m finally back in the kitchen (remodel almost complete!) and cooking/photographing at home once again!

There’re still quite a few bits to finish, and we’re waiting for some furniture to arrive (still no dining table!), but I think the kitchen will be done by the end of Jan, and the adjoining office will hopefully be done by mid Feb. I CAN’T WAIT to show you guys.

All of my appliances are in, and I’m over the moon to have ovens, hob and a working sink (2 months of washing pans in the bath was not fun!).

I’ve still got a couple of recipes saved-up that I wanted to share with you, and this seemed like the perfect one to kick off Healthy January!!

Yep, I’ve eaten far too much and the scales are not my friend right now. So January will be spent eating (mostly) healthily, and I’ll be kicking off the exercise regime once again.

I’ve made this quinoa salad so many times recently (on its own, or as a side dish to steak or salmon) and I love it! Juicy pomegranate, creamy goats cheese, sweet roasted potato and fresh, vibrant herbs. The addition of the honey mustard vinaigrette takes it to another level.

In fact, I think I need to make this for lunch tomorrow as I’m drooling just thinking about it again!

Serve it warm, or serve cold if you prefer (I like to make a big batch, then save some leftovers for packed lunches).

Hopefully this salad will go some way to help with any healthy-eating resolutions you might have. I’d love to hear your food or fitness goals if you’ve set yourself some.

I want to lose the weight I’ve gained during the house extension work (far too much convenience food eaten, in addition to the gorging over xmas), and get back to attending a weekly fitness class, plus at least one other form of exercise every week.

Ok, I’ve said it out loud. Now I’ve go to do it!

I first made this salad for DIYS.com

The Warm Quinoa And Goats Cheese Salad With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Recipe:

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Warm Quinoa And Goat's Cheese Salad With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Need a comforting, warm lunch - packed full of healthy goodness too? Try this vegetarian Warm Quinoa And Goat's Cheese Salad With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette!

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: British

Servings: 3 -4 servings

Author: Nicky @ Kitchensanctuary.com

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 120 g (2/3 cup) dry quinoa
• 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
• Seeds from one pomegranate
• 1 log of soft goats cheese approx 125g/4.5 oz, chopped into bite-size chunks
• Large bunch mixed herbs – I used a mixture of coriander cilantro, parsley and mint, roughly chopped

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:

• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tsp honey
• Pinch salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190c/375f. Place the chunks of sweet potato in a baking tin and drizzle on the olive oil. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper and toss everything together. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes until tender.
2. Whilst the potatoes are roasting, cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions, but also crumble in the stock cube for extra flavour. (For this amount of quinoa, I'd boil 360ml (1 1/2 cups) water, add the quinoa and stock cube, then cover and simmer for approx. 20 mins before fluffing with a fork.)
3. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Place the warm quinoa, roasted sweet potato, pomegranate, goats cheese, and chopped herbs in a large bowl.
5. Toss everything thin together, then drizzle on the vinaigrette and serve.