This Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad is a delicious, super-food packed, and hearty salad that will fuel your day, fill you up, and thrill your taste buds, too.
Peel the sweet potato and cut into ½ inch cubes. Put the cubes in a single layer on a parchment line baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until they are fork tender and beginning to caramelize, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
While sweet potato is in the oven, cook quinoa. Add quinoa and water to a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.
Toss cooled sweet potato cubes, quinoa, chickpeas, seeds, bell pepper, spinach sunflower seeds, and parsley together in a large bowl.
Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine.
Notes
I like to make extra roasted sweet potatoes when I make this salad so that I can use some in another recipe, like sweet potato and salmon fritatta.
Roast the sweet potatoes until they are just beginning to brown and are fork tender but still firm. Don't over cook or they will be mushy.
Follow the package directions for cooking quinoa. You may need to rinse the quinoa, which has a natural coating called saponin, which can taste bitter. Some brands are already pre-rinsed for you.
You can swap the spinach for kale, arugula, or swiss chard.
Change the chickpeas for black beans, or any other type of canned beans.
Add a pinch of red pepper flakes or chili powder to the vinaigrette for a hint of spice.
Buy sunflower seeds that are already shelled, or you can use pumpkin seeds. Some other topping ideas are toasted pecans or walnuts, dried cranberries, raisins, or pomegranate arils.
For meal prep, divide the salad into individual containers and store in the fridge for when you need a healthy lunch or side dish. Sweet potato quinoa salad will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.