Quinoa Arugula Salad Is Delicious and Nourishing

This is a yummy and nourishing quinoa arugula salad for any season. It is full of good protein from the quinoa and the pumpkin seeds. It is a whole meal in one bowl.

Quinoa Arugula Salad

Quinoa Arugula Salad Ingredients

Quinoa is a big part of this recipe and a good thing as it has many health benefits. It is gluten-free because it is not a grain, it is a vegetable seed related to Swiss chard, spinach, and beets.

Quinoa is pronounced KEEN-wa not kwin-o-a. It is filling like a grain and has much more protein than grains and is considered a smart carb. It is an antiseptic alkaline-forming food that is low in calories and is a great source of riboflavin. It is the star in this quinoa arugula salad!

Pumpkin seeds are so good that I add them to many of my meals. The bonus nutrient value is that they are the only seed that is alkaline-forming.

Arugula with its aromatic, peppery flavour adds a wonderful dimension to a salad and to your sex life too. It is also known by other names such as salad rocket, garden rocket, roquette, rucola, rugula, or colewort. It is creat for cleansing and detoxifying the body as well as reducing inflammation.

Cucumbers are the perfect summer veggie that keeps your body hydrated, strong, and happy.  They hydrate your body and help to flush out toxins. They are good for treating high blood pressure and for weight loss and may help fight cancer and reduce the risk of heart disease.  They are highly alkaline-forming and may help reduce cholesterol and help with diabetes.

Red pepper is my favourite; I think that is because it is sweeter. The peppers have 2 times as much vitamin C as oranges; red and yellow peppers have 4 times as much.

Olives are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients as well as a number of flavonoid and phytonutrients. They are a very good source of copper, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin E.

Avocado is bursting with lots of health benefits and is so strongly associated with fertility and aphrodisiacs that the Aztecs would lock up virgin daughters during avocado harvest time to keep them safe.  Read the details and check out the infographic on this wonderful Superfood. Some people avoid avocados due to their high-fat content. Most of us know by now that avocados have the kind of fat that actually helps you lose weight!

Olive oil was referred to as “Liquid Gold” by the famous Greek poet Homer.  If you are what you eat, what would happen if you consumed “Liquid Gold” daily?  Extra-virgin olive oil (cold-pressed) is the best fat to use as a salad dressing.  Do not use it for cooking.  It has a low smoke point and heat makes it susceptible to oxidative damage.  Olive oil has so many health benefits I include some every day when I eat my salad. Make sure you are using real olive oil. Have you heard of the olive oil fraud?

Have you heard of the olive oil fraud?
Find out Which Olive Oil to Buy

Here is the recipe for my Olive Oil Lemon Juice Salad Dressing.

Olive Oil Lemon Juice Salad Dressing
Make Your Own Olive Oil Lemon Juice Salad Dressing

It tastes great on the tempeh salad. This olive oil lemon juice salad dressing is always enjoyed by everyone who has it with one of my salads. This is why I created the exact recipe years ago.

I love to eat salads with a healthy salad dressing and always make my own salad dressings.  It is the salad dressing that makes it a healthy or unhealthy salad.   A healthy salad is often ruined by drenching it with a highly-processed salad dressing from the supermarket which is not healthy as it is filled with artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives, sugar, and white distilled vinegar (which is hard on the digestive system).

Time to make quinoa arugula salad!

Quinoa Arugula Salad

This is a yummy and nourishing quinoa arugula salad for any season. It is full of good protein from the quinoa and the pumpkin seeds. It is a whole meal in one bowl.
Course Salad
Cuisine gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword arugula, avocado, cucumber, Gluten-free, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, red pepper, Vegan, vegetarian
Servings 1
Author Diana Herrington

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 2 handfuls arugula
  • 1 small handful parsley chopped
  • 1/4 red pepper chopped
  • 1 small cucumber sliced into rounds
  • 1/2 avocado chopped
  • 5 pitted olives
  • 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4-1/3 cup light olive oil salad dressing

Instructions

  • Cut an avocado in half and scoop out the flesh. Chop the avocado.
  • Chop the red pepper and slice the cucumber into rounds.
  • Chop the parsley finely.
  • Mix the greens, avocado, olives, and red pepper together in a bowl.
  • Mix in the olive oil salad dressing.
  • Mix in the cucumber, parsley, and cooked quinoa.
  • Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top.
  • Now sit down and enjoy this delicious salad.

Notes

Find out more about the healthy Ingredients: ArugulaRed Pepper, Cucumber, Avocado,  Olives, Pumpkin Seeds
Learn How to cook Quinoa
Make my Light Olive Oil Salad Dressing
This is one serving or if you are a big eater you may need to double the ingredients.
Tip: If you want to make extra for the next day, do not mix the salad dressing, cucumber or pumpkin seeds in. A mix of the basic ingredients will last 3 days in the fridge.
Here is my favourite quinoa:  truRoots Organic Quinoa 100% Whole Grain Premium Quality.
Note:  Arugula has many health and detox benefits. Because of this I often use it in my weight loss and detox classes.

I hope you enjoyed my quinoa arugula salad.

This is one serving but if you are a big eater you may need to double the ingredients.

Tip: If you want to make extra for the next day, do not mix the salad dressing, cucumber or pumpkin seeds in. A mix of the basic ingredients will last 3 days in the fridge.

Here is my favourite quinoa:  truRoots Organic Quinoa 100% Whole Grain Premium Quality.

Note:  Arugula has many health and detox benefits. Because of this I often use it in my weight loss and detox classes.

Quinoa-Pudding
Deluxe Quinoa Pudding

More quinoa recipes:

 Deluxe Quinoa Pudding This is an extra special quinoa pudding made from my favorite grain that as we now know is really a seed. You can simply cook it on top of the stove in a pot till it is the consistency you like,  but baking it makes it extra yummy! The raisins and dried apricots add a very tasty sweetness. I love pecans and that is what for me makes it a deluxe pudding. You can use other nuts if you prefer.

 Quinoa Coconut Almond Porridge – Sugarless is a great breakfast.

Quinoa with Pomegranate and Cashews – What an exotic delicious combination this quinoa with pomegranate and cashews dish is! Also, it is a very filling meal full of nutrients. The good news is that it is exceptionally easy to make in minutes.

Some more of my favorite Salad Recipes

 Healthy Carrot Salad  – This carrot salad with black currants and sunflower seeds is especially unique and so tasty. Also, it is filling too.

sunflower seeds
Healthy Carrot Salad with Black Currants and Sunflower Seeds

Power Spinach Salad –This spinach salad is full of healthy greens that is one of the highest alkaline-forming foods and spinach is full of vitamins A, K, and D.  This is a very simple and tasty salad to make and is full of superfoods; everyone I have served it to enjoys it very much.

Delicious Mandarin Orange Kale Salad – This mandarin orange kale salad is a smart tasty way to get some healthy greens into a meal. Adding the mandarins along with the sweet bell peppers makes this a very healthy and tasty salad.  I have found that this salad can be a full meal which is filling for dinner.

Tasty Arugula Salad with Pecans –This arugula salad is extra delicious with the addition of pecans.  Yum! All the ingredients in this salad are healthy and so it is very good for you.  A salad a day is always a good idea as it is a way to get more vegetables into our diet.

Tasty Olive Salad Appetizer for Your Meals and Parties – I created this yummy olive salad appetizer recipe just this week and it truly was tasty. I love the colorful salad it became with the addition of the red peppers and green chives.  Food needs to have a range of colours to be tasty. Also. this is a healthy olive salad that is great as an appetizer or a side for your meal. It is even great for a party.

Tempeh Salad with Beets and Sprouts
Shiitake Mushroom Salad with Walnuts is Very Tasty

Delicious, Beautiful Avocado Grapefruit Salad –This tasty grapefruit salad is so beautiful and delicious. Red grapefruit is full of lycopene, which is more easily absorbed with some oil, thus the avocados and olive oil.  Grapefruit is a very good fruit for the winter with all the vitamin C in it and it has fat flushing benefits

 Delightfully Delicious Wild Rice Salad–This wild rice salad is delicious, nourishing and filling. It has tasty colorful vegetables in it to give the wild rice a good contrast and is a crunchy salad for lunch or dinner. A very good thing about this salad is it is a whole meal in a bowl which means there are not lots of dishes to wash after eating this delicious meal. Also, I love wild rice!

Cool Summer Salad for Dinner – A summer salad is just what is best for a hot day.  Who feels like cooking dinner on a hot summer day? Not me! Let’s keep cool!  This summer salad doesn’t require any cooking and only takes 10 minutes. The best meal to fill you up with protein is for dinner and this salad has plenty of protein from almonds, pumpkin seeds, and tahini.

vital healt assessment

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6 thoughts on “Quinoa Arugula Salad Is Delicious and Nourishing”

  1. What is Arugula? I have never heard of it.
    Diane, I was in the USA recently, & I bought some Stevia – it is called “SweetLeaf” is that the one you use? It is a powder, I also bought Stevia from Fairway supermarket, it has stevia rebaudiana, plus vegetable glycerin, deionized water, natural vanilla. Are they O.K.& are they not also made in a lab?
    Have you heard of a plant called Saffron, well in South Africa they are making an anti-depressant from it. I am going to try it myself, with my anti-depressant.It is called Felix.

    1. Joy, Here is an article on arugula:

      I don’t use that brand of stevia; it could be ok as long as it is not over processed.

      Occasionally I use saffron in my cooking, love how brightly coloured it is.
      According to the University of Maryland Medical Center:
      “Saffron (Crocus satvius), standardized extract, may help relieve depression although it’s too soon to say for sure. One preliminary study found that it worked as well as Prozac, while another found that it worked as well as a low dose of Tofranil. Saffron can be dangerous or even life-threatening at high doses or when taken for a long time, so don’t take it without your doctor’s supervision. Pregnant women and people with bipolar disorder should not take saffron supplements.”

  2. I am not sure if you received my last comment to you, but I just wanted to thank you for answering & finding out for me about Saffron as an anti-depressant.
    Thank you once again & for your good articles.
    Regards.
    Joy Markman

  3. Hi Diane, I am just interested to know if you eat inbetween meals? I eat maybe some nice dish with organic brown sugar & Stevia/some dark chocolate/ especially mid-afternoon & after dinner. I am trying to live by the 80/20 meal plan for my bones, as I have osteoporosis – on fracture line, & instead of taking the meds., for the problem, I have bought the book from Vivian Goldschmidt, MA (saveourbones.com)& that is what she recommends.Of course it is an alkaline diet.I also have POS, which has actually given me osteoporosis, I have had a terrible time with this sydrome. I lost six babies,had male-pattern baldness, cystic acne. It is a hormonal disease. Any suggestions?
    Thanks so much,
    Joy

  4. thank you so much for this awesome recipe. arugula is one of my favourite salads to eat. with thyroid disease, i watch my consumption but in all these years i have not had a problem with it – -unlike with kale, mustard greens, broccoli and cauliflower.

    thank you for being you.

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