This Quinoa and Nectarine Slaw from Susan Pridmore’s Simply Vegetarian Cookbook exemplifies the elegant simplicity of the recipes you’ll find throughout the pages of this well thought-out vegetarian cooking companion.
The Wimpy Vegetarian Meets OMG! Yummy
I first met Susan online via social media, eventually meeting in person at a food conference in Santa Clara, California. Somehow I knew that someone who titles her blog The Wimpy Vegetarian would become a fast friend of mine. Her whole approach to cooking and eating resonates with me. Keep it simple, cook often, eat lots of veggies, and don’t forget the carnivores in your life.
Vegetarian + Carnivore = Flexitarian
Susan is a mostly vegetarian who lives with a carnivore husband but they have found a middle ground at the dinner table. And you’ll find this “flexitarian” approach throughout The Simply Vegetarian Cookbook as she offers simple-to-prepare vegetarian meals that frequently offer both a vegan and carnivore option as well.
Why I Love this Quinoa Nectarine Salad
- It’s stone fruit season! I live near Andy’s Orchard where they sell some of the best stone fruit I personally have ever tasted.
- This Quinoa and Nectarine Salad is so easy to prepare (as she promises in the book). There are elements you can prepare ahead – the dressing, the quinoa and the pumpkin seeds – so when dinner rolls around, the actual slaw comes together quickly.
- You can take shortcuts – I bought a bag of pre-sliced cabbage – it’s inexpensive and saved me some chopping time.
- This recipe is flexible. While I followed the recipe for this particular post, I can see changing up elements to match your taste buds or the ingredients you have on hand. No quinoa? Try another grain or pulse – bulgur, barley, lentils, or couscous – for example. Use different greens – maybe it will become less of a slaw and more of a salad, but the concept remains the same. No pumpkin seeds? Try another toasted nut – pine nuts for example. And when stone fruit season is over, try apples. No feta on hand – try a different cheese or leave the cheese off. And of course a different dressing – even a light creamy one could be delicious!
- This would be a great salad to take to a pot luck or put out on your own party buffet.
But if you can, make this lovely slaw with the nectarines and toasted pepitas just as Susan instructs — the earthy pumpkin seeds with the sweet, juicy nectarines will wow your tastebuds. No nectarines? Use peaches — as Susan says, “nectarines are just peaches without the fuzz”.
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Quinoa and Nectarine Slaw
This simple salad is a light and refreshing meal on a hot summer day. The nectarines should be at, or close to, their peak ripeness so that their natural sweetness can perfectly combine with the earthy pumpkin seeds. If you don't see ripe nectarines at your market, you can use peaches, since nectarines are just peaches without the fuzz. (Reproduced with permission from Rockridge Press)
Ingredients
Quinoa and Nectarine Slaw
- 1 cup cooked quinoa at room temp
- 2 nectarines cut into 1/2 inch wedges
- 1/2 cup shredded white cabbage
- 1/2 cup curly kale
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1/3 cup Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (see recipe below)
- 3 tablespoons Lemon Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
- 1/2 cup feta cheese optional
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- 1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch cayenne pepper
- pinch smoked paprika
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Quinoa and Nectarine Slaw
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, nectarines, cabbage, kale, scallions, and pumpkin seeds. Toss with the vinaigrette.
Serve topped with the feta cheese (if using).
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients.
Heat a small sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and sauté, tossing frequently as they brown, for 10 minutes, or until they reach your preferred level of toasting. (or roast them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring them occasionally so they brown evenly)
Lemon Vinaigrette
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil.
I’m Beth – a seasoned marketing professional, kitchen table storyteller, and enthusiastic food consumer. Hang out in my virtual kitchen and I promise to feed you recipes, stories, and lots of inspiration!
This looks delicious! I am so jealous of your proximity to Andy’s Orchard!
And I didn’t even know about it until last year!!!
You are so luck to have an orchard so close! I didn’t know anything about that when I was living in Campbell many years ago. Your salad looks gorgeous!!! I still remember that morning, sitting at the conference in Santa Clara, and getting FB message from you asking if I was there. It was so lovely to spend the day together. We need to do it again 🙂 Thank you so much for your lovely words and ideas for the salad!!!!!!
My pleasure – thanks for the kitchen inspiration in the book and for offering vegetable loving cooks and eaters a way to co-exist peacefully with our carnivore family members 🙂 And yes, an in-person meet-up needs to happen soon. Are you coming down this way for any book events?
And your photos are LOVELY!!!!!
It gives me stress but I’m getting better at it! I have large shoes to fill.
Indeed you do, my friend. Big big hugs.
I think I need to make this salad again tomorrow!! (I’m leaving another message so I can give you 5 stars!!)
Ditto to your peach source and the kitchen inspiration from Susan! You’ve added inspiration with this lovely post.
thanks Rosemary! Loved our day at Andy’s last year. I’m sure you can do great things with this recipe.
Goodness that looks so refreshing! It’s actually hot down here in San Diego so I’m always looking for meals to cool off with in the evenings.
Yup – and this is the kind of dish that you can level up to a meal or just serve as a side dish. I’m all about flexibility and simplicity.
Yumm… I bought Susan’s book, but it hasn’t arrived yet (already have the kindle version).
You, Rosemary and I should do a virtual cook together one night – each picking something different from the book!
What a lovely combination! Susan’s book is fantastic, and I intend to cook Many Recipes from it! This slaw sounds great! 🙂
Can’t wait to see your renditions!
What a gorgeous salad!! I stone fruits and could use some more vegetarian recipe ideas so I need to pick up this cookbook!
I am looking forward to discovering more recipes in it!
Congrats to Susan for the recipe and the book and to you of course, for making this and sharing it with us all!
We pinned it in our “Healthy recipes” board, as this is super-antioxidant AND it must taste amazingly good!
Another first for us, would be combining nectarines with pulses, like quinoa. Quinoa does have a mild flavor, so it must be a perfect combination.
And the whole smoked paprika(big fans)-pumpkin seeds idea is so awesome!
M-m-mm!
xoxoxo
Susan is a very talented recipe developer. I love the pumpkin seed part of the recipe. Worth doing all on its own. Great for salads and also think they would be great on a fall squash soup or just for snacking. I do love the creative way Susan incorporated the protein and fruit into a familiar coleslaw style salad. So clever.