Helloooo people, and welcome to week TWO of my Summer Salad Series! This week we are creating a gorgeous Supergrain Salmon Salad recipe with a delicious Goji Berry dressing – I think I’m most excited to share the dressing with you! It has such a summer vibe to it, which is what I’m all about these days with the lovely warmer weather and longer evenings. I LOVE fish, and I LOVE salmon, so I knew one of my salads in this series had to be based around this key ingredient.

This recipe (as with all the recipes I’m posting in this series) is suitable as a lunch, dinner, meal prep, or a side to a main meal. If using as a side dish (e.g. for a barbeque), you can omit the salmon if you want, it’s up to you! I’ve designed these salads to be a meal by themselves, as well as a side dish. Now let’s get to the recipe!

Recipe (Serves 4) 

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 200g quinoa uncooked
• Salmon – I’ve used tinned salmon (4 small tins for 4 servings), but you could also use a cooked fillet or smoked portion per serving of salad
• 1 cup broccoli florets, washed
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 50g feta, crumbled
• 50g pumpkin seeds

For the Dressing

• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (sub 1 extra tbsp lemon juice if you don’t have this!)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp goji berries
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Method

Part 1 – Making the Dressing

1. Soak the goji berries in warm water for approximately 20-25 minutes. You can skip this step or do it the night before – it makes blending them easier!
2. Add each of the ingredients to a blender cup and blend, or puree using a handheld food processor until you get a smooth consistency.
3. Once ready, set aside in a small bowl while you make your salad.

Part 2 – Making the Salad

1. Rinse the quinoa, then cook according to package instructions (usually boil in a set ratio of quinoa to water for 10-15 minutes).
2. While this is cooking, prepare the other ingredients for your salad. Wash the broccoli and tomatoes, roughly chop the broccoli into bite-size florets, halve the cherry tomatoes, and set aside.
3. If using tinned salmon, drain and scoop out into a small bowl. Using a fork, separate the chunks into smaller pieces, and remove any bones present.
4. When the quinoa is ready, drain and place in a large mixing bowl.
5. Add your veggies, and toss with the quinoa.
6. Next, add your salmon chunks and pumpkin seeds, and mix everything up again.
7. Time to add the dressing! Pour over the salad in a circle and move inwards as you pour. Then get a large spoon, and stir everything until all ingredients are coated in the salad.
8. Finally, it’s time for feta! Sprinkle your feta crumbles over the top of the salad, and you’re good to go!

Enjoy guys! I am REALLY loving this salad series – it’s making me work on my recipe creativity to get a fresh recipe together each week, which is brilliant! And you know I love to share the success with you lovely crew. Tag me if you try this recipe out – @theirishbalance on Instagram or Twitter!

Ciara 🙂 x