Roasted Carrot & Quinoa Salad

October 18, 2012

I am a cold weather girl, through and through. In the game of “Would You Rather?” if asked, would you rather always be always cold or always hot, I’d always pick cold.

Being such a fan of cold weather and sooooo not a fan of Halloween makes it really easy for me to skip all the way to Christmas. I know! It isn’t even Halloween yet! I received the Crate & Barrel holiday catalog in the mail the other day and that gave me that tingly feeling in my belly.

I was instantly longing for snowflakes on my nose and my standard holiday ringtones, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah and “Christmas Time is Here” by the Chipmunks.

Aaaaahhh! See?!?!?! It’s happening already!

Regrouping…

Ok, back to fall. I have to say, this might be my fall-iest recipe aside from my fall chopped salad. It is roasted and warm and full of warm flavors.

It is the perfect meal to remind myself it is not winter or Christmas, it is fall!!!!

Roasted Carrot & Quinoa Salad

Course Salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 - 6
Author Sarcastic Cooking

Ingredients

  • For the Salad:
  • ½ Cup Quinoa
  • 1 Cup Low-Sodium Vegetable Stock
  • 2 Sprigs Thyme
  • 4 Large Carrots peeled and halved length-wise
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 10 Chives chopped
  • 1/3 Cup Sliced Red Onion
  • 3 Cups Arugula
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Parsley
  • For the Dressing:
  • 1 Teaspoon of Honey
  • 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Clove Garlic grated
  • Pinch of Salt and Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Whole Grain Mustard
  • 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
  • 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Combine the quinoa, thyme, and vegetable stock in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer quinoa for 12-15 minutes until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender. When cooked, remove from the heat, remove the thyme stems, and set off to the side to slightly cool.
  3. Coat sliced carrots in olive oil and lay cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
  4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the honey vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, mustard, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Set off to the side.
  5. When carrots are done roasting, remove from the oven, and place off to the side to slightly cool.
  6. In a large bowl or on a large serving platter, toss together the chives, red onion, arugula, parsley, and quinoa. Top the salad with the roasted carrots and the dressing and then serve.

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  • Nora
    March 19, 2014 at 6:07 pm

    Oh my gosh, this is my new favorite salad, thank you! I never knew one could make their own dressing, and it’s so easy. Question for you: I want to make more dressing so that I can have salads all the time (yeah right, we’ll see), how long do you think the dressing will keep in fridge? I skip the garlic and used white wine vinegar instead.

    • Stefanie
      March 19, 2014 at 10:43 pm

      It should be acidic enough to last for a week or two!

  • heather
    October 30, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    making this right away. btw, i love the heat. being a chicago girl transplant to california, i’m pretty happy with the weather.

  • Linda
    October 20, 2012 at 11:15 am

    I have to have these on the table for Thanksgiving 🙂
    Thank you for sharing your recipe with us.

  • Michelle
    October 18, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    The holidays will be here before you know it. No doubt about it! Those are some beautiful carrots!

    • Stefanie
      October 18, 2012 at 4:48 pm

      You are so right!

  • Ashley Bee
    October 18, 2012 at 12:29 pm

    We are polar opposites. I LOVE warm weather and LOVE Halloween but have trouble appreciating fall because it means the cold is on its way. Great recipe too!

    • Stefanie
      October 18, 2012 at 4:49 pm

      Oh no Ashley! Maybe we can meet in the middle and both love Spring?

  • Patrick
    October 18, 2012 at 10:49 am

    I stopped reading after you said you’d rather be in cold weather. At least the pictures were good 🙂 Roasted carrots are among my favorite.

    • Stefanie
      October 18, 2012 at 4:51 pm

      Hahaha, I figure you can always add layers but there are only so many layers you can take off in the heat without looking totally crazy and inappropriate!