Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad with Citrus Dressing for Pesach

This is a great Pesach recipe as quinoa is kosher for Pesach and is even considered not to be kitniyot (according to OUKosher, “since quinoa, which has only recently been introduced to the Northern Hemisphere from its native South America, was never considered kitnios, it remains permitted on Pesach even though logically it should be included in the minhag…” but there are concerns, so please read up if you’re not sure). I came up with this recipe one Pesach when I had vegetarian guests, and I’ve been making this every since.

Salad Ingredients 

Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa Salad in a Citrus Dressing

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red peppers cut into quarters (without the white bits)

2 carrots cut lengthwise into 6ths and cut down the middle again

2 zucchinis cut lengthwise into 6ths and cut down the middle again

1 large onion cut into 6ths and cut down the middle again (make sure the onion doesn’t fall into pieces, otherwise it will get burned in the oven)

1 whole head of garlic

2 Israeli cucumbers diced

2 pickled cucumbers diced

About 10 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters

Dressing Ingredients 

Juice of half a small lemon (about 2 teaspoons)

Juice of half an orange

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (regular vinegar if you can’t find Kosher for Pesach Balsamic)

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (regular vinegar if you can’t find Kosher for Pesach)

1 tablespoon mustard (grainy is better if you eat kitniyot)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

How to do it

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF)

2. Prepare the quinoa (I usually heat a little olive oil in a small pot and saute the quinoa for a minute, adding 2 cups of boiling water. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and let the quinoa simmer until all the water has cooked away. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa cool down.)

3. Place the cut up peppers, carrots, zucchini, onion and garlic head on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and greased with the olive oil and put on the middle rack of the oven. Sprinkle a little more olive oil over the vegetables as well. Roast for 20 minutes and then turn the peppers, zucchini and carrots over using tongs,and roast for another about 15 minutes or until the peppers start to get black. (Don’t turn the onions or they will fall apart)

4. Remove the vegetables from the oven and put the pepper pieces into a small plastic bag and close the bag. After about 20 minutes, you will be able to easily peel the skin off the peppers.

5. Chop up all the roasted and vegetables into small bite-sized pieces (discarding any papery, dark onion slices); and add to the quinoa, along with the chopped fresh vegetables.

6. Mix the dressing in a jar with a lid that closes well by adding all dressing ingredients plus the roasted garlic, which you squeeze out of the top part of the head. If you find this difficult, take a serrated knife and slice the tips of the garlic cloves off and then squeeze – it’s just like squeezing toothpaste. Shake the dressing very well and taste for flavor. Pour over the salad and serve.