Moroccan Inspired Quinoa Carrot Salad

One of my all-time favourite salads, I make this about once a week almost year round. It’s so flexible in terms of substitutions, and so satisfying – light but filling, and packed with flavour.

Since it only takes about 15 minutes to make, it’s also my go-to tired food especially when S.A.D. starts to wreak havoc moving into winter. So even though different types of carrots are in season or storage year round, I especially like this in autumn and winter.

With a slightly spicy lemon ginger vinaigrette playing off sweet dates, chewy quinoa, and protein-rich chickpeas, it’s a solid main dish. If you’re going to work or school in person, or have to travel, it also packs really well.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

This is a perfect weeknight dinner that doubles as leftover lunch for the next day – what’s not to like, really. While I more often make it when I have greens and herbs available from a garden or pots, it uses readily available ingredients.

• It’s gluten free: quinoa is, of course, a seed, and naturally gluten-free. It’s also a complete protein, great for vegetarians.
• It makes great leftovers: as mentioned above, it does keep well and can be refrigerated for a couple of days and still taste great. It’s a good meal-prep salad.
• You can change it up: if you prefer cranberries over dates, or sesame seeds instead of sunflower, whatever you like. Keep the base and change the add-ins.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Chickpeas: cooked or canned, both are fine. In either case rinse very well before adding.
• Baby greens: use spinach as pictured, or kale, chard, even a hardier lettuce like cornsalad all work well. Lettuces are less effective for leftovers.
• Parsley: sub other herbs as needed (see parsley substitutions).
• Garlic: omit if raw garlic causes problems for you. This can also be replaced with very finely chopped red onion.
• Lemon: preserved lemon is an excellent sub for lemon juice in the vinaigrette, and good as an addition even if you don’t leave anything out. Reduce the salt if using.

Step by Step

1. Make the vinaigrette: add all ingredients to a jar and shake very well to combine. Set aside.
2. Prep the salad: cook the quinoa, then mix with the other salad ingredients. Top with the vinaigrette, mix well, and serve warm.

Tips and Notes

Some commenters have noted that they let the quinoa cool fully before mixing. I recommend mixing the salad while the quinoa is still warm for two reasons – to wilt the greens, which makes them a bit more pleasant to eat, and because the grains soak up the vinaigrette more effectively if they’re warm. You can use cold quinoa if you prefer.

If you’re using canned chickpeas, I recommend rinsing and then soaking in cold water for about ten minutes before rinsing again. I find that they taste much better with a short soak in fresh water, especially when used in a salad rather than incorporated into a soup or stew.

If this seems like too many ingredients for you, try this more basic chickpea quinoa salad instead. Both are great!

How to Store

Storage: this is best stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Depending on the types of greens used, it can last up to three days and still be very good. I recommend kale or chard for longer storage.

Freezing: I don’t recommend freezing this salad. Cooked quinoa can be frozen and thawed with little to no textural change, though.

Expert Tips

• Rinse quinoa: while some quinoa is pre-rinsed these days, if the package doesn’t specify, you should rinse it before cooking. The grains are coated in bitter saponin and taste better when rinsed first.
• Make the dressing in a jar: this goes for any vinaigrette. You’ll have faster and easier emulsion via shaking rather than whisking, and any leftovers can be more easily stored.
• Don’t peel the carrots: peeling causes unnecessary food waste and most carrots need just a quick scrub. Especially when grating, you won’t notice the peel.

More Moroccan Inspired Recipes

Moroccan Roasted Vegetable Salad
Chickpea, Sweet Potato, and Kale Stew
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks
Moroccan Carrot Chickpea Stew

If you make this Moroccan Quinoa Salad or any other vegetarian main dishes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

This post was first published in April 2018. It has been updated with new photos, updates to the text, and slight changes to the recipe as of October 2020.