If you're ever cornered by a bland bowl of vegetables or whole grains, throw a handful of herbs on it. They instantly make the meal more beautiful and flavorful—without adding any salt, fat, or sugar.
Ingredients
4 servings
Buttermilk dressing
Salad
Buttermilk Dressing
Step 1
Whisk buttermilk, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, rice vinegar, pepper, and 1 tsp. sea salt in a medium bowl. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
Do Ahead: Dressing can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill.
Salad
Step 2
Stir together shallot and 2 Tbsp. buttermilk dressing in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 3
Cook broccoli in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer broccoli to a bowl of ice water; let cool. Drain and place on a kitchen towel–lined baking sheet.
Step 4
Meanwhile, return water in pot to a boil and cook quinoa until slightly al dente, about 12 minutes; drain. Toss quinoa and 2 Tbsp. buttermilk dressing in a large bowl to coat; season with salt. Let cool.
Step 5
Add dressed shallot, broccoli, parsley, tarragon, pistachios, and 2 Tbsp. buttermilk dressing to quinoa and toss to combine. Season with more salt if needed.
Nutrition Per Serving
How would you rate Broccoli-Quinoa Salad with Buttermilk Dressing?
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Reviews (7)
Back to TopOkay salad, but flavor is bland. Ended up using all buttermilk dressing for salad and adding handful dried cherries to jazz it up. It just lack something, Don't think I would make again.
dory92064
San Diego, CA
6/22/2018
Simply fantastic. There are a few steps, but fear not! Totally worth it. And at the end you still have 1 cup+ of the buttermilk dressing for either another go at it (and why not?) or to dress a pasta salad, rice salad or vegetable salad a few days later.
jennifer39
New York, NY
3/12/2017
Made this salad pretty much as is. Just put it on a bed of baby spinach and used toasted almonds instead because I didn't have pistachios--any kind of nuts or seeds would work. As previously noted, this would make a great base salad. The addition of fresh or dried fruit and chicken would be tasty, but it's a really good salad as is, and I love the dressing. Endless possibilities....
Anonymous
West Orange, NJ
1/2/2017
This is a great base salad that has many possibilities depending on how you want to serve it. I substituted mexican oregano for the tarragon, and left the shallot out for my husband who hates them. For a ladies lunch I added feta cheese to give more heft than just a side salad. For dinner two nights later I added fresh toasted bread crumbs to the top which added a lovely touch.
Anonymous
Pasadena, CA
4/14/2016
I liked the bright citrus dressing, but wow -- way too much shallot! It overwhelmed the whole salad.
ffran
vermont
2/5/2016
Yum! Very flavorful and satisfying. Diverged from the recipe a bit...Didn't have tarragon so added fresh basil. Also added some chopped kale, avocado, and roasted chickpeas. Dressing is mild and tasty.
suecq
San Francisco Bay Area
1/28/2016
This was a pretty easy and healthy recipe. Tarragon and parsley give it good flavor. I followed the recipe exactly. I wound up with ~2x as much dressing. If I read the recipe correctly, you only use 6 tablespoons of dressing. So I added ~2 more tbs. of the extra dressing. Also, I guess the broccoli heads I used were not small enough. 2 yielded too much to keep a good ratio. So I added a little more of it and then some of the extra dressing. Still I wound up with about 1-2 cups of extra broccoli that I dressed with the remaining dressing to have side dish. I would suggest tasting as you go to make sure there is enough salt . If you do not care about calories, double the pistachios add add crumbled goat cheese or feta so it is more like an entree and less like a side. Would be a nice base for a piece of chicken or fish.
juniorina
I Love TRUMP in San Francisco
1/25/2016
