A lovely simple tasty salad, I hope you enjoy this Summer Chicken Quinoa & Peach Salad
This salad is a lovely layered salad where each mouthful provides a little bit of everything in terms of both flavour and texture. I love simple salads for this reason. Just a few ingredients that all complement each other.
We are big fans of this one, great for meal prepping and for lunches as it keeps well in the refrigerator.
In summer here in NZ we are blessed with an abundance of delicious stone fruit. In our family we always cannot wait to be able to add these to the trolley.
Peaches are such a versatile fruit with a stunning flavour and texture. They can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes with equal success. I have matched them today with Tri Colour Quinoa and Chicken breast.
Plus a few other bits and pieces to lift the whole dish.
Today I have used both the Golden Peaches and the Yellow Flesh Peaches to show they can be interchanged depending on what is available. Both are delicious in this salad.
I like my quinoa salads to have a lovely fresh flavour, so I have included a simple dressing to pour over the salad to lift everything. It is one of those salads you can build from the base up or combine all in one bowl.
To recreate this recipe you will need
-
Tri Colour Quinoa
-
Free Range Chicken Breast
-
Peaches (Golden or Yellow Flesh)
-
Walnuts or Cashews
-
Olive Oil
-
Lemon, Juice & Zest
-
Garlic
-
Honey
-
Salt & Pepper
-
Rocket (Arugula)
-
Spring Onions to garnish
-
Hummus as an optional extra
Of course the beauty of salads is you can add or amend the ingredients to suit your tastes. Sometimes I add a little dried herbs to the dressing, thyme or rosemary is lovely.
If you are not familiar with quinoa the one I use is an organic tri colour one that is lovely for adding texture to many dishes. Quinoa (said keen-wah) is a naturally gluten free seed that is sometimes referred to as a grain despite not technically being one.
It has a sweet nutty flavour and often referred to as a superfood or supergrain it is a lovely ingredient to add to your dishes and great for your health and gut!
To cook your quinoa you can do this either in the microwave or on the stove top on a boil as you would for rice. Quinoa is cooked when the grain turns translucent and the germ of the kernel spirals out.
Before cooking your quinoa you want to rinse it really well in cold water, until the water runs clear. This will ensure any remaining husk is removed and any possible bitter aftertaste.
I simply pan fry my chicken breast with a simple salt & pepper seasoning, you can of course marinate it but I find with the other flavours it is more than enough to keep it simple.
I often like to serve this over a smear of hummus, I’ve chosen a lovely Lemon & Pepper hummus that is perfect to go with this dish. It means on each scoop you get an added bit of flavour!
You can easily make this salad ahead of time, the flavours will meld together even more, it stores well in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days if stored correctly.
If you like the idea of stonefruit in a salad be sure to check out this delicious Chicken & Nectarine Salad loaded with lovely flavours.
Onto this recipe for Chicken Quinoa & Peach Salad
Chicken Quinoa & Peach Salad
Delicious simple salad packed full of lovely flavours and textures.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Uncooked Tri Colour Quinoa
- 2 Cups Water
- 400 grams Chicken Breast
- Pinch Salt & Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, strained
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 1 teaspoon Honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- Pinch Salt & Pepper
- 2 Peaches, washed, pitted, finely sliced
- 1/2 Cup Cashews, or Walnuts, or Pecans
- 1 Spring Onion, finely diced
- 1 Large Handful of Rocket, torn
Instructions
- Rinse your dry uncooked Quinoa really well through a fine sieve, until the water runs clear.
- Add this to a large saucepan (that has a lid) and add the 2 cups of cold water
- On a medium heat bring the water to the boil, stir once then pop the lid on and reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, with the lid on the whole time
- Remove from the heat and keep the lid on for a further 10 minutes.
- When you remove the lid, you can fluff up the quinoa with a fork, then set aside to cool completely before assembling the salad, this may take at least 30 minutes, so prepare the next steps during this time.
- Halve and finely slice the chicken breast, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper to coat.
- In a hot pan add the olive oil and pan fry the chicken in batches until golden brown and just cooked through, set aside and repeat with all the chicken pieces.
- Set the chicken aside to cool, or pop in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- To prepare the dressing, in a small bowl add the olive oil, strained lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
- Once the quinoa has cooled add this to a clean bowl and fluff with a fork
- Add to this the torn rocket leaves, half of the finely sliced peaches, 3/4 of the finely sliced spring onion and 3/4 of the cashews and mix gently
- Add 3/4 of the dressing and stir again to combine
- If using hummus smear a few large tablespoons of it over the bottom of a serving dish, I like to use a flat platter for this salad.
- Then spoon over the quinoa mix and gently spread to cover the serving dish
- Top this with the chicken pieces, the remainder of the sliced peaches, spring onion and cashews
- Drizzle over the remaining dressing
- Chill until ready to serve. This salad will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator if stored correctly in an airtight container.
- Enjoy!
I cannot wait to hear what you think of this recipe. It would be perfect for both dinners and lunches, we find one bowl is never enough!
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my latest recipes on my blog. If you are not already, be sure to follow me on Facebook or Instagram for more deliciousness, and you can register your email in the subscription box below to receive all my recipes as I publish them.
Happy Cooking!
Anna
Pin It! Pinterest
I love hearing from you! What do you think of this recipe?