Beautiful roasted carrot cauliflower quinoa salad tossed with fresh herbs, sweet Medjool dates and salty pistachios. This vegan cauliflower quinoa salad is lightly dressed with a bright sunshine dressing for the perfect plant-based lunch or side dish!
I like to call this salad sunshine in a bowl. Or on a platter. Because however you serve this carrot cauliflower quinoa salad, it’s everything you could want: bright, refreshing, flavorful, bold, cozy and nutritious! Tons of veggies, fresh herbs, crunch and flavor, too.
I’ve been trying my best to bring you more plant based recipes to celebrate seasonal produce and this hearty salad is perfect for winter and spring when you want something in between cozy and refreshing. The carrots and cauliflower are roasted to tender perfection in a blend of spices, then tossed with more herbs, veggies, a hint of sweetness from dates, crunch from pistachios and of course: the sunshine dressing. You’re going to love it!
Everything you’ll need to make this cauliflower quinoa salad
This beautiful, vegan cauliflower quinoa salad recipe is packed with flavorful roasted veggies, fluffy quinoa and delicious salad mix-ins. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- For the veggies: we’re roasting up carrots and cauliflower with cumin, turmeric, garlic powder, a little cayenne if you like heat (I recommend!), salt & pepper.
- For the quinoa: you’ll just need some dry quinoa and water to cook it up. Feel free to use white quinoa or tri-color.
- For the mix-ins: toss this salad together with fresh green onion, cilantro, parsley, chopped Medjool dates, roasted & salted pistachios and some peas.
- For the sunshine dressing: grab the recipe for this gorgeous sunshine dressing here! It’s made with tahini, lemon juice, a little maple syrup, fresh ginger, turmeric, garlic powder, salt & pepper.
Make this roasted cauliflower salad your own
This cauliflower quinoa salad is great for customizing! Here are some delicious ways to mix it up:
- Swap your produce. This salad would also be delicious with roasted sweet potato or butternut squash instead of carrots.
- Try a different sweetener. Instead of dates feel free to mix in some golden or regular raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries.
- Use a new nut. Roasted salted almonds or cashews would also be delicious in place of the pistachios. Or omit them to keep the recipe nut free!
- Try another dressing. The sunshine dressing is absolutely delicious, but this salad would also be great with a plain tahini dressing, a jalapeño green tahini dressing or a curry tahini dressing!
