This arugula quinoa salad with a creamy orange poppyseed dressing is one of my favorite combos!
The sweetness of the orange pairs perfectly with the bite of arugula. Pairing it with a dressing I could chug, a creamy orange poppyseed dressing! It’s so unique and absolutely delicious. An ideal summer salad!
To me, the perfect salad always has to have the right mixture of textures as well. This salad has the soft and creamy texture from the avocado and oranges and some crunch from the carrots and roasted cashews.
Customize Your Salad
This salad is made completely soy free and gluten free but you can make it nut free by swapping the cashews for hemp seeds or sunflower seeds as well.
To make this salad more filling I love to add quinoa. Quinoa is a complete protein and a great source of fiber. I love adding a grain to a salad for this recipe, you can also sub with short grain brown rice or millet.
What really makes this salad above and beyond is the orange poppyseed dressing! Of all the salad dressing I have made I would say this one is the Top 5 and I’ve made a lot of salads.
All you need for this delicious dressing is:
-
Orange juice
-
Good quality tahini
-
Organic Maple Syrup
-
Coconut aminos
-
Fresh ginger (sub 1/2 tsp ginger powder)
-
Poppyseeds
-
Sea salt
If you like this recipe, check out my orange creamsicle and orange chocolate ice cream recipes!
Arugula Quinoa Salad with Orange Poppyseed Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 handfuls arugula, torn
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1 orange, peeled and sliced
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 avocado, diced
- 1/4 cup roasted cashews, chopped
- 1/4 cup carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
Creamy Orange Poppyseed Dressing
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tbs tahini
- 1 tbs water
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp coconut aminos
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and grater
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp poppyseeds (added after blended)
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add arugula, quinoa, oranges, red onion, avocado, cashews and carrots.
- To a personal blender add in all dressing ingredients except for poppyseeds and blend until smooth. (You can also mix together in a bowl with a spoon)
- Add in poppyseeds and mix until well combined.
- Add dressing onto the salad ingredients and mix together.
- Enjoy!
Such a refreshing and filling salad!! The carrots are that crunch element you would usually get from a crouton but much healthier. The dressing is soo good definitely will become a staple in my house!
Amazing! So happy to hear you enjoyed the salad and the orange poppyseed dressing! Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Is there anything that you can replace the coconut aminos with and coconut cream. I am allergic to coconut ( which is co sad I love coconut)
Yes, if you’re not soy free you can use tamari and if you’re not gluten free you can also sub soy free. These are more salty so I recommend maybe adding half first and seeing how it tastes. 🙂 There’s no coconut cream in this recipe, were you referring to another recipe?