For week 2 of my Vegetarian Challenge, I knew that I wanted a “refrigerator salad.” By that, I mean a salad that I can prepare at the beginning of the week and will hold up well in the refrigerator for several days. Building the salad on a base of cooked grains, using sturdy vegetables, and roasting the vegetables to remove some of their moisture helps this Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad stay fresh like the day you made it, well into the week. I’ve also tested freezing this salad and it freezes SO WELL! Almost unnoticeable changes once reheated.
This recipe was inspired by two of my favorite recipes, Yellow Jasmine Rice and my classic Roasted Cauliflower Salad, so if you’re a fan of either of those, you’re going to love this one as well. I didn’t make a dressing for this salad, because there was already so much flavor going and it was moist enough for my liking, but if you want to try a dressing, I would suggest either the Lemon Turmeric Dressing from my Autumn Quinoa Salad, or the Lemon Tahini Dressing from my other Roasted Cauliflower Salad.
Substitutions
You have several options with this salad. If you want to cut costs even more, you can substitute couscous for the quinoa. Just make sure to use proper amount of liquid, as suggested by the cooking instructions on the package of couscous. Raisins make a great substitution for the dried cranberries, and you can probably use a handful or two of kale, chopped very fine, in place of the parsley. I sometimes have success with spinach holding up in salads like this, so long as the other ingredients are significantly cooled before combining with the spinach.
Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad
Servings 6 2 cups eachIngredients
- 1 head cauliflower ($3.49)
- 1 small red onion ($0.28)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.12)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 tsp turmeric ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon ($0.02)
- 2 cups quinoa ($2.39)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries ($0.29)
- 3 cups vegetable broth* ($0.39)
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds ($0.44)
- 1 cup chopped parsley ($0.45)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Chop the cauliflower into florets and slice the red onion into 1/4-inch strips. Place the cauliflower florets and sliced red onion into a large bowl, along with the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower and onion until they are well coated in oil.
- Spread the cauliflower and onion out onto a large baking sheet, then transfer them to the oven. Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, give them a good stir, then roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized and the cauliflower is browned.
- Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa. Rinse the quinoa well in a wire mesh sieve. Add the butter, garlic, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon, to a medium sauce pot. Place the pot over medium heat. Stir and cook the spices for one minute.
- Add the drained quinoa to the pot with the butter and spices. Also add the dried cranberries and vegetable broth. Stir to combine, then place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the pot simmer for 20 minutes, with the lid in place.
- After simmering over low for 20 minutes, the quinoa should have absorbed all of the broth. Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa. Add the sliced almonds and stir to combine. Allow the quinoa to cool slightly.
- Transfer the cooked quinoa and roasted cauliflower and red onion to a large bowl. Add the chopped parsley and stir until everything is combined. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat (can be eaten warm or cold).
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. Chop one head of cauliflower into florets and slice one small onion into 1/4-inch strips. Place both of them in a bowl and add 2 Tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower and onion until they are well coated in oil.
Spread the cauliflower and onion out onto a large baking sheet. Transfer them to the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then stir, and return them to the oven.
Roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized and the cauliflower florets are browned.
While the cauliflower is roasting, begin the quinoa. Rinse 2 cups of quinoa in a wire mesh sieve. Add 2 Tbsp butter, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/8 tsp cinnamon to a medium sauce pot. Stir and cook the spices in the butter over medium heat for about one minute.
Add the rinsed quinoa to the pot, along with 1/3 cup dried cranberries. We’ll cook the cranberries with the quinoa so they can plump up in the hot liquid.
Finally, add 3 cups vegetable broth to the pot and give everything a brief stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes (with the lid on).
After 20 minutes, all of the broth should have been absorbed. Fluff the quinoa, add 1/4 cup sliced almonds, and stir to combine. Let the quinoa cool slightly.
Add the cooked quinoa to a large bowl along with the roasted cauliflower and red onion, and 1 cup of chopped parsley.
Stir everything to combine, then it’s ready to serve! You can serve this salad warm, or refrigerate it for later and serve it cold.
Crunchy, earthy, and a little sweet, this Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad will fill you up and keep you full!
We made this for lunches this week and it was awesome (paired the servings with spinach, sort of like a salad-grain bowl). I also added roasted butternut squash which went perfectly with the salad. I didn’t have dried cranberries and used dried cherries instead, which I wouldn’t recommend because they got a bit mushy. Thanks for the excellent recipe! We will be making this again (and again).
Made this tonight, it was fantastic! Great flavor. I changed it by using chicken broth instead of veggie broth and I added chicken sausage I sautéed up (we like meat!). I did not add the cranberries or the parsley. I will definitely make this again, next time I will add roasted carrots I think they would go perfectly. This will be great of lunch tomorrow I’m already looking forward to it!
This is so ridiculously good….so much flavour. I used a couple of cups of spinach and let it “melt down” when I added the warm quinoa. Much like I do in your Spinach, chickpea and quinoa one (another fav)
Did you freeze this and how did that turn out? Freezing might stop me from just eating all of it in one day-haha.
I did freeze it and it turned out SO GOOD. Like, I could barely even tell that it had been frozen after I had reheated it!
I got up early and prepped this for dinner tonight, but ended up also eating it for breakfast!
YUM!
I love your baking sheet! Can I ask where you got it or the brand? Thanks! This looks delish – I’ll be getting the stuff to make it this weekend!
Sure! It’s a brand called Crow Canyon. You can find it several places online. :)
I thought I would try a more savory version of this, so I left out the cinnamon and cranberries an added some halved Kalamata and green olives (added after the actual cooking process). It was excellent.
Sounds amazing! :)
Thanks for another great recipe!!! My work usually provides lunch but because most people are on vacation I have to brown bag it this week, so this salad is perfect. My grocery store was out of parsley so I went the kale route, added while everything was still hot to wilt it a touch. In a massive brain fart moment I completely forgot to get cranberries, and they were on my list and everything! To make up for the lost sweetness, I added a diced apple and a squirt of lemon juice over the whole thing to help discourage browning (though a little oxidation never hurt nobody). Cheers!
Oooh, I bet apple was awesome in this! Nice way to improvise!
I made this today for lunch, and it was delicious! I’m looking forward to eating it cold tomorrow. Thanks for a great prep salad!
This looks delicious! Could I make it with frozen cauliflower? How would I need to adjust the roasting time?
I think you definitely could. I’m not sure about the roasting time, though, because it can depend a lot on the size of the florets. Just start with 20 minutes, stir, check again after 10 minutes, and keep adding 10 minutes until it has reached a good level of browning. Definitely make sure that you use a baking sheet that gives them plenty of room too, because frozen florets have more water and you don’t want it to be able to evaporate instead of pooling on the baking sheet.
Thank You for the tip.
I’m looking forward to making this! Used to be meh on cauliflower, but roasting really makes it sing.
BTW, kudos, Beth! You’re mentioned in a story in the Washington Post’s food section: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/01/04/when-money-is-tight-i-turn-to-my-kitchen-and-the-cuisine-of-my-italian-roots/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.220a5c61d8ff
With so many people furloughed, I think you’ll gain a whole new following.
This looks so good! Could this be made with frozen cauliflower?
I bet it would work great! I haven’t tried it though, so you’ll need to play the roasting time by ear. And make sure you use a big enough baking sheet so the extra water can evaporate well.
I just made this after work today with the intent of meal prepping but I CANT STOP EATING IT OMG IT IS SO GOOOOOOOD!!! I’m pairing it with roasted chicken breast tomorrow but leaving it vegetarian for my ski day. Thanks for this gem 💎
Good tip about possibly adding spinach and making sure the other ingredients are sufficiently cooled first. I will try this. I like the idea of greens in this, but am not a fan of kale. Thanks Beth!
This looks so good! Any suggestions for quinoa substitutes (barley? Couscous?)? I don’t really like the quinoa texture.
Yep, you can totally do couscous! That would be my first choice. :)