Easy Healthy Curried Quinoa Cashew Salad

This Easy Healthy Curried Quinoa Cashew Salad is a Vibrant curry cashew chickpea quinoa salad packed with veggies and delicious flavor from curry powder, fresh ginger, turmeric, and sweet and spicy maple glazed cashews. This wonderful vegan curry chickpea quinoa salad is easy to make for the perfect main meal or healthy side dish!

I love summer! Because summer is all about fresh veggies, salads, and all the good stuff!
This salad packs so much flavor, and yet has so much freshness in it.
Just beware, that the maple glazed cashews are ADDICTIVE!

I have a few other quinoa-based salads on the blog that are fabulous, but this one really is up there. It’s bright, bold, and full of flavor thanks to the nutritious quinoa that’s infused with freshly grated ginger, curry powder, garlic powder, and earthy ground turmeric.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the beautiful veggies, fruits & herbs including red bell pepper, carrots, peas, red onion, dried cherries, cilantro, and parsley. Once you take a bite, I promise you won’t be able to stop. Especially after you try my spicy maple glazed cashews.

How to cook the perfect fluffy quinoa

1. Use a 1:2 ratio for quinoa to liquid. In this recipe, you’ll cook 3/4 cup quinoa in 1 2/3 cups water. I like to add a tiny bit more water to ensure the quinoa is super fluffy after you’re done cooking and it continues to steam in the pot.
2. Add in quinoa and water to a medium pot and bring mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for exactly 15 minutes.
3. After 15 minutes, remove from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork.
4. Finally, replace the lid and allow quinoa to steam for 10 more minutes. 
   

   Customize this curry cashew chickpea quinoa salad:

   • Use the veggies you have on-hand. Shredded red cabbage, snap peas, green onion or even roasted broccoli or cauliflower would be delicious in this salad.
   • Choose your sweetness. I love this salad with dried cranberries, but feel free to use dried cherries, raisins, golden raisins, or chopped dates for little bites of sweetness throughout.
   • Switch up your nuts. I recommend using already roasted nuts if you want to sub. Honey roasted peanuts, cashews, or pistachios would be great options.Right! Shall we give this amazing salad a go?

     Do let me know how you found this Easy Healthy Curried Quinoa Cashew Salad if you try it though! And if there was anything you tried or something that worked better…Do drop me a comment below, or you can find me/message me directly on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook! I love seeing what my lovely readers think of my recipes!

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     Easy Healthy Curried Quinoa Cashew Salad

     E D

     Vibrant curry cashew chickpea quinoa salad packed with veggies and delicious flavor from curry powder, fresh ginger, turmeric and sweet and spicy maple glazed cashews. 

     Print Recipe Pin Recipe

     Prep Time 5 minutes mins

     Cook Time 25 minutes mins

     Total Time 30 minutes mins

     Course Appetizer, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

     Cuisine Mediterranean

     Servings 4

     Calories 491 kcal

     Ingredients

       

     1x2x3x

     • For the quinoa:
     • ¾ cup quinoa
     • 1 2/3 cup water
     • 1 15 ounces can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
     • ¾ cup frozen green peas thawed
     • 1 tablespoon sesame oil or sub olive oil
     • ½ tablespoon freshly grated ginger
     • 1 teaspoon curry powder plus more if you want a really big curry punch!
     • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
     • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
     • ½ teaspoon salt
     • Freshly ground black pepper
     • For the mix-ins:
     • 1 red bell pepper diced
     • ½ cup shredded carrots from 1 large carrot
     • ½ cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
     • ¼ cup finely diced red onion
     • 1/3 cup finely diced cilantro
     • 1/3 cup finely diced flat leaf parsley
     • For the maple cayenne toasted cashews:
     • 3/4 cup raw cashews
     • ½ tablespoon pure maple syrup
     • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
     • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

     Instructions

      

     • Add in quinoa and water to a medium pot and bring mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for exactly 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork, then replace lid and allow quinoa to steam for 5-10 more minutes. While quinoa is cooking you can chop all your veggies.
     • Once quinoa is done cooking, stir in chickpeas, peas, sesame oil, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
     • Next stir in red bell pepper, shredded carrots, dried cherries, red onion, cilantro, and parsley.
     • Finally make your maple cayenne toasted cashews: place cashews in a skillet over medium heat. Toast cashews for 4-6 minutes, stirring frequently until they turn slightly golden brown and fragrant, then turn off the heat and immediately add in maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and sea salt. Stir for 30 more seconds to coat cashews, then transfer to a plate or piece of parchment paper to cool for a few minutes. Cashews may stick together so try to spread them in an even layer when they are cooling.
     • Top quinoa with cashews and serve! Serves 4 for a main meal or 6 as aside.

     Notes

     This delicious vegan curry cashew chickpea quinoa salad gets even better over the course of a few days as it marinates in the spices. Store it in an airtight container (or a few meal prep containers like these) for up to 5 days and enjoy all week long. It’s perfect for meal prep as a side dish or a main dish, and you can easily make it the night before.

     Nutrition

     Calories: 491kcal

     Keyword cashew, healthy, quinoa, Salad, vegan

     Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!