Cold Soak Quinoa Salad
Home-dried quinoa and vegetables that come back to life in a jar of cold water.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 136
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Cooked and dehydrated quinoa | 3/4 cup dry | cook 1 1/2 cups quinoa in 3 cups water at home, then dry it flat |
|---|---|---|
| Dried diced tomato | 3 tbsp | sun-dried works, chop it small |
| Dried bell pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried spinach flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley and mint | 1 tsp each | |
| Fine sea salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | stands in for two fresh cloves |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Toasted pumpkin seeds | 3 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Powdered lemon juice or citric acid | 1 tsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 1 packet |
Method
- Pour 300 ml of cold water into the jar with the dry mix. Seal it and shake.
- Give it 90 minutes. Two hours is better. Shake it once partway through so the quinoa on top gets wet.
- Pour off any standing water if you overshot. The quinoa should be loose, not soupy.
- Squeeze in the mustard, add the oil, and stir hard until the dressing coats everything.
- Scatter the pumpkin seeds on last so they stay crunchy.
The original is a fridge salad built on fresh cucumber, tomato, and feta. None of that travels. What survives the swap is the structure: a neutral grain, something acid, something fatty, and enough dried vegetable to give it texture. Quinoa is the reason this works cold at all, but only if you cook it at home first and dry it. Raw quinoa will sit in cold water all afternoon and stay gravel.
The dressing does the heavy lifting. Powdered lemon and mustard rehydrate into something sharp enough to cut a grain that has been sitting in a jar, and the oil is most of the calories. Feta is gone because soft cheese and a warm pack are a bad pair; the salt and the seeds cover for it. Honey became plain sugar, which does the same job in the dressing and keeps the whole thing vegan.
Packing
Everything dry except the oil, mustard, and seeds goes in one screw-top jar or freezer bag. Seeds ride in their own bag; if they soak with the rest they turn to paste.
Variations
- A foil packet of tuna or chickpeas turns it into a real dinner and adds 20 g of protein.
- In cold weather, use hot water and eat it in twenty minutes instead of two hours.
- Swap the pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds if you want it cheaper.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/amazing-quinoa-salad-healthy-powerful-recipe