This Quinoa Summer Salad checks a lot of boxes for me – it’s bright, filling, zesty and light enough that I can eat it all summer long. And let me let you in on a secret – the coconut milk dressing is SO good. It will change your life. This Quinoa and Lentil Salad is packed with fruit and vegetables to make it flavorful, but it’s the dressing that really makes it sing. Inspired by Chef Gregory Gourdet’s restaurant Kann in Portland, OR, which has an amazing cherry and cherry tomato salad in coconut milk dressing, this dressing is a balance of sweet, spicy, limey and salty. It’s hard to explain how good it is, so I’m just going to trust that this blog post will make you want to try it for yourself!
After you try it once, it’ll be hard not to put it on everything.
But the dressing is not the only merit of this salad – this quinoa and lentil bowl is perfect for summer meal prep. It’s hearty but doesn’t weigh you down, and it lasts in the fridge for up to five days. It’s a great grain salad to eat at the beginning of the week for dinner, and then use for lunches as you need them! I have some sitting in my fridge right now – so consider my point proven. 🙂
Table of contents
How to build the best Quinoa Summer Salad or Grain Bowl
I have a few salad-building rules I find helpful, especially when I’m looking to make the best quinoa-lentil grain bowl out there. Here are my rules to live by, which I hope this recipe covers:
- Use herbs, and a lot of them – They are a bright, nutritious flavor! Why use lettuce when there are herbs is always my POV. Here I use mint and cilantro, but you can mix and match as you see fit.
- Use pantry staples as your base – quinoa and lentils are my pantry staples here, but they can range to any bean or grain. A good grain bowl is always available if you have them on hand.
- Build a dressing that is flavor-forward – with these bowls, a lot relies on the dressing. Make sure it has layers of flavor, as well as a salty element, an acidic element, and a bit of spice.
- Season the salad before adding the dressing – before I toss a grain bowl, I always add salt and a hit of vinegar, it changes every salad tenfold.
Ingredients you will need for this Quinoa and Lentil Summer Salad
- 1 heaping cup quinoa, any kind
- 1 heaping cup black lentils
- 1 medium Fresno pepper, seeds removed
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, rough ends of the stems removed
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon lime zest, about 1/2 of a lime
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, about 1 juicy lime
- 1/3 cup yogurt or skyr
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes assorted colors, halved
- 1 medium peach, thinly sliced
- 1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
How to prepare the Coconut Milk Dressing
Finely chop up half of the Fresno pepper, 6 mint leaves and 2 tablespoons worth of cilantro, add these to a medium bowl. Grate in the garlic and lime zest. Add in the lime juice, skyr, coconut milk and honey and whisk. Season with about a teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste. Set this aside.
Tips and tricks on how to best store this recipe for later
What I love about this recipe is that it’s easy to store. The quinoa absorbs all the flavor from the dressing, so it just gets better as it sits. The lentils are nice and perky since we avoid cooking them into oblivion, which means they keep well in the fridge as well.
If you want to maintain this salad’s shelf life for as long as possible, I would hold out on adding the herbs and dressing until you eat it. You can store the herbs pre-torn and in a separate container, and you can keep the dressing in a jar. This will keep the salad at peak-gorgeous color, although it will taste just as good if you store the combined version, too (it just might look a little less pretty, but looks aren’t everything!)
This whole salad will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Looking for other easy lunches?
Here are a few of my favorites from the blog!
And that’s it for this Quinoa and Black Lentil Summer Salad with Coconut Milk Dressing!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Quinoa Summer Salad with Coconut Milk Dressing
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 chef's knife
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 heaping cup quinoa any kind
- 1 heaping cup black lentils
- 1 medium Fresno pepper seeds removed
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves loosely packed
- 1 cup fresh cilantro rough ends of the stems removed
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon lime zest about 1/2 of a lime
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 juicy lime
- 1/3 cup yogurt or skyr
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes assorted colors, halved
- 1 medium peach thinly sliced
- 1 medium cucumber thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the quinoa according to package instructions. I usually make mine in a rice cooker with a ration of 1:2 grains to water, to keep it simple.
- Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Rinse the lentils and add them in. Simmer for 20-22 minutes, which is usually less than what the package calls for, but it prevents them from turning to mush.
- When the quinoa is finished add it to the fridge to chill, and when the lentils are finished, drain and set aside to cool.
- While both the grains and lentils are going, preapre the dressing.
- Finely chop up half of the Fresno pepper, 6 mint leaves and 2 tablespoons worth of cilantro, add these to a medium bowl. Grate in the garlic and lime zest. Add in the lime juice, skyr, coconut milk and honey and whisk. Season with about a teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste. Set this aside.
- Tear the remaining mint and cilantro into a large bowl. Slice the remaining Fresno pepper and add it in as well. Add in the red onion, tomatoes, peach, cucumber and chilled lentils and quinoa. Give a few big mixes and season with salt and vinegar. Add in about half the dressing and mix again.
- To serve, portion into bowls and drizzle on the remaining dressing. If making ahead, store in an airtight container in the fridge and this will last for 4-5 days.
This is a dream! I just made it for dinner tonight and I was stunned out how well the everything paired together – the coconut skyr dressing is the star! I could put that dressing on everything.
My favorite things about summer in one bowl! Instead of cilantro, I used lots of basil, parsley and green onions. I also substituted the quinoa and lentils with forbidden black rice and it paired perfectly. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ridiculously fresh. Summer in a bowl. Amazing.