Quinoa, Avocado & Salmon Salad

A quinoa salad packed with protein and veggies. Spices, lime juice and fresh parsley bring in light flavors, perfect for summer!

When I first started blogging I felt very strongly about only posting 100% totally original recipes. Some of my recipe ideas just come to me out of thin air and are totally unique (or, at least I know nothing about any other similar versions out there), but many of my recipes are also a part of a creative process starting with another person’s recipe. Over the course of making the recipe a few times it morphs into something else. Sometimes it changes based on ingredient availability, how much I’m willing to spend at the grocery store, if I want to turn the oven on or not, and of course the obvious: if the recipe is gluten free or not! It’s so interesting to follow the whole process, and rather than feeling guilty about not coming up with totally new and original recipes I’m loving and embracing giving credit to my sources of inspiration! Bloggers supporting bloggers!

This particular recipe started off as “Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa” from The Cookie Rookie. I raved about it in one of my “What I Ate Last Week” posts. It’s a Whole30 recipe, but I served it with quinoa since I’m not doing Whole30. Like I said, I raved about the recipe. It was de-lic-ous! We had extra avocado salsa and just ate it plain. It was that good.

As Steve and I are shoveling down the entire recipe, plus quinoa, he says “you should make this into a salad. Mix it all together.” We knew it would be good, since that was basically what we had each done on our plates.

So, really, I can only take credit for a few minor recipe modifications. I used a bit of a different technique for seasoning the salmon, used a regular onion instead of a red onion, bottled lime juice instead of fresh, and parsley instead of cilantro, since my garden is literally overflowing with parsley. And of course, I added the quinoa.

The salad-ified recipe is quite delicious. It’s good summer food. You could easily bring it to a picnic or a potluck, and probably have one of the tastiest (and healthiest!) dishes there! One cautionary note: avocado will turn brown overnight, so keep that in mind when deciding when and how much of this to make.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 salmon filets, 3-4 oz each (I use the frozen kind, that come in individual pouches, but 12 – 16 oz of any salmon will work)
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 3/4 c quinoa
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1 avocado, cut into cubes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 1/2 Tbs lime juice
• 3 Tbs chopped parsley

Directions

1. Combine the olive oil, salt, cumin, paprika, onion, powder, and ancho chili powder in a small bowl. Rub the paste evenly onto the salmon. Put the salmon in the refrigerator to “marinade” for 15-30 minutes.
2. While the salmon is “marinating”, prepare the quinoa. Add the quinoa and water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. When the quinoa is done, Put it in a large mixing bowl.
3. Preheat the grill.
4. Spray the grill with cooking spray (I use misto) right before adding the salmon. Grill over direct heat, with the cover on, for about 5 minutes, or until the internal temperature has reached 145° F.
5. Remove the salmon from the grill. While the salmon sits for a few minutes, add the avocado, onion, lime juice, and parsley to the bowl with the quinoa.
6. Cut the salmon into bite sized pieces and add to the bowl.
7. Gently, stir everything together. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve chilled.

This post is linked to Gluten Free Wednesday at Gluten Free Homemaker, Gluten Free Easily, and Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. Check it out!