Quinoa Salad with Halloumi & Coconut Cilantro Dressing

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Total Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

This quinoa salad is nearly addictive. It is jam-packed with summer vegetables, filled with salty pan-fried halloumi, and covered in a creamy, slightly spicy coconut milk dressing. It makes four (large!) servings, and is an ideal meals for using up as many vegetables as you can!

The dressing and halloumi are also what make this quinoa salad particularly special AND really versatile. This is a maximalist salad. The more vegetables, the better! It has a huge amount of dressing! It fills you up with CHEESE. (Which you can of course substitute for tofu if you are vegan!)

Some vegetables cooked in this quinoa salad and some are raw strictly due to flavor and texture reasons. Raw sweet pepper and tomatoes add their bright, crisp flavors, while cooked corn and summer squash give their buttery, rich sweetness to the salad. Of course, if you want to save time (and don’t mind the flavor of uncooked squash), feel free to toss in all the vegetables raw! On the other spectrum, if you want the peppers and tomatoes to go from bright and sweet to softened and jammy, feel free to cook them alongside the corn and squash.

This recipe makes four big servings, so it’s great for meal prep or for making as a healthy weeknight dinner. Great to use for the rest of the summer, and hopefully well into the cooler months!

Quinoa as an ingredient in TCM medicinal cooking is considered to be sweet and warming, tonifies Qi, strengthens the Spleen, warms Yang, and relieves internal coldness. It is also a good source of Vitamin E which helps keep blood “slippery” and flowing, which helps to reduce blood stagnation and clotting. Quinoa is also rich in protein and iron.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

• 1 packed cup cilantro 2.5 ounces / 70 grams

• 1 large jalapeño 1.5 ounces / 42 grams (see Note about weight measurements*)

• 1 13.5 ounce can of full-fat unsweetened coconut milk

• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1 lemon

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 1 large summer squash 12 ounces / 340 grams

• 3 medium ears of corn yields 12 ounces / 350 grams of corn kernels

• 1 large sweet bell pepper 8 ounces / 226 grams

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes 8 ounces / 226 grams

• 8 ounces halloumi cheese

• Extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Begin by cooking your quinoa according to package instructions. We reccomend to do this in a rice cooker with a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa, but any method works! When it's finished, set it to the side to cool to room temperature.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, add 3/4 cup of cilantro to a blender, reserving the rest. Add 1 jalapeño, one can of coconut milk, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of salt, and blend until it is a smooth, light green dressing. Taste and season with salt as preferred. Set this aside.

3. Thinly slice the summer squash and add it to a large bowl. Cut the corn kernels from the ears of corn and set them in the same bowl.

4. Thinly slice the sweet bell pepper and quarter the cherry tomatoes. Set those aside.

5. Cut the halloumi into bite-sized cubes.

6. Set a pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil, just enough to coat the surface. Add the halloumi and let it cook, untouched, until it is golden and sizzling on one side, about 3-4 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the halloumi and let it continue to cook, browning on all sides, another 3-4 minutes.

7. When the halloumi has browned, add in the corn and squash. Season with a few large pinches of salt and cook, stirring often, for 7-9 minutes, or until the squash has softened and the corn is taking on a bit of color.

8. Add the cooked vegetables and halloumi to a large bowl with the quinoa. Let this cool to room temperature for 10-15 minutes (or else the other veg risks getting soggy).

9. When the quinoa salad has cooled, add the pepper and tomatoes, plus the reserved cilantro. Mix everything together.

10. Top each serving with a healthy amount of the dressing (nearly 1/2 cup per bowl), but if you are saving it for meal prep, store the salad and the dressing in separate containers. Serve and enjoy!

NOTES

*All the weight amounts for vegetables are for BEFORE they are cored and have had the stems removed, unless otherwise specified. 

photo and recipe credits to Justine Snacks