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Quinoa fruit salad in a wooden bowl garnished in mint with a wooden spoon.
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5 from 8 votes

Quinoa Fruit Salad

Quinoa Fruit Salad is a bright gluten-free healthy summer salad with seasonal fruits such as mangos, apricots and blueberries tossed with quinoa, mint and a zippy citrus honey lime dressing.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Sides
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Calories: 127kcal
Author: HWC Magazine

Ingredients

Quinoa Fruit Salad

  • 2 cups quinoa
    cooked white
  • 1 cup grapes
    sliced in half - optional
  • 1 whole apricot medium pit removed and chopped
  • 2 whole mangoes peeled and diced - optional
  • ½ cup strawberries or cherries sliced -optional
  • ½ cup blueberries
    optional

Citrus Honey Dressing

  • 4 tablespoon orange juice
  • 4 tablespoon lime juice or lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoon lime zest or lemon zest
  • 1.5 tablespoon honey or to taste (can exchange with sugar alternative or maple syrup as needed )
  • 2 tablespoon mint fresh roughly chopped (optional)

Instructions

Cook the quinoa- If you already have cooked quinoa skip the next 2 steps.

  • To make 2 cups of cooked quinoa, measure out ⅔ cup of dry quinoa. Wash very well until water runs clear in a fine mesh colander.This removes the bitter taste from quinoa seed. This natural coating of a substance is called saponin. Saponin has a bitter flavor which discourages birds from eating it so wash well.
    To cook the quinoa, you will use a 2:1 ratio of liquid to quinoa, or 1 and ⅓ cups of water for ⅔ cup of dry quinoa.
  • Cook quinoa per label directions, which is generally bringup to a boil and then simmer for about 10-15 minutes with a lid or until allthe water is absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy. Set aside with lid onfor 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. If you are cooking a large amount ofquinoa it can take up to 2 minutes to cook. Quinoa is done cooking when thetiny spiral (the germ) separates and curls around the seed. 
    You can cook your quinoa the day before and store inrefrigerator or make the day of and cool in the freezer to assist with coolingprocess.
    Cooked Quinoa on a spoon.
  • In a small bowl mix together your lime (or lemon juice), orange juice, zest of lemon (or lime) and honey until honey is incorporated
    Chop up your grapes, mangoes, pineapple, apricots, cherries and add your washed blueberries to your cooked and cooled quinoa.
  • Add your citrus honey dressing to the quinoa and fresh fruit mixture, add chopped mint and mix well. Serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Feel free to use any fruits you desire. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, pineapples, kiwi, apricots, peaches, grapes, lychee, citrus are just a few examples of fruits to use. The ratio or our quinoa to fruit was 2 cups cooked quinoa to 4.5 cups fruit of choice. However, measurements do not need to be exact. If fresh fruits are difficult to obtain, you can also use drained “canned fruits” of choice.
The only caution we have for you is not to use as fruits that oxidize quickly like apples, bananas and pears. In addition, if you use fruits that bleed red like red dragon fruit, it will make your quinoa pink. Pink quinoa still tastes delicious, but it is not as pretty.
In addition, you can use either lime or lemon for the tart citrus for the honey citrus vinaigrette. We used some of both as that is what we had on hand. We are all about using what you have in your refrigerator or in the fruit basket at home.
To make this recipe vegan, swap out the honey in the recipe with maple syrup or sugar alternative of choice. Ripe fruit is sweeter, and you can use less sweetener.
You can cook the quinoa up to 3 days in advance. You can prep your fruit up to 24 hours in advance and store in a separate container. However, we would not assemble your fruit salad until the day you are ready to serve. You can store your prepared fruit salad up to 3 days in a container in the refrigerator.
As a reminder, make sure you wash your quinoa very well in a fine mesh colander before cooking. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 62IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg