Quinoa Salad with Roast Beef & Spicy Dressing
Most quinoa salads lean Mediterranean. This one leans East. Soy sauce, sriracha, and olive oil whisked together coat cooled quinoa, edamame, raw carrot strips, and thinly sliced radishes. Four slices of roast beef on the side add a second protein layer alongside the edamame and quinoa.
Fifteen minutes from dry quinoa to a finished bowl with 35 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber from five different sources.
Ingredients
- quinoa 3 ounces
- edamame 3 ounces
- cucumber 0.5
- carrot 1
- radishes 5
- scallion 1
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- Sriracha sauce 0.5 teaspoon
- roast beef 4 slices
Method
-
Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the packaging. Then, drain and let it cool slightly.
-
Rinse the edamame beans in a colander and let them drain. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and slice it. Slice the carrot into thin strips with a peeler. Slice the radishes thinly and chop the scallion into rings.
-
In a bowl, mix the cooled quinoa with the vegetables.
-
Combine the oil, soy sauce and Sriracha in a small bowl. Stir the dressing into the quinoa salad.
-
Serve the salad with slices of roast beef. Season with pepper to taste.
The olive oil in this dressing does more than carry the soy sauce and sriracha. A crossover trial found that raw vegetable salads eaten with fat-free dressing produced near-zero beta-carotene absorption from the carrots. Dietary fat dissolves beta-carotene out of the plant cells and into a form your intestines can absorb. This dressing has more than enough.
The crossover trial tested the same salad three ways: fat-free dressing, reduced-fat (6 grams), and full-fat (28 grams). Beta-carotene absorption climbed with each step. This recipe's dressing delivers roughly 20 grams of fat from the olive oil alone, well past the 6-gram threshold where absorption begins to register.
Carotenoid absorption from raw vegetables (Brown et al., 2004) · DOIWhy This Works
Behind this recipe
Is 35 grams of protein enough from one meal?
This bowl delivers 35 grams from three sources: quinoa, edamame, and roast beef. Research has shown the body can use well beyond 30 grams of protein in a single sitting for muscle protein synthesis. The old 30-gram ceiling has been tested and disproven.
Read the full evidence reviewDoes adding lime juice change anything?
Lime juice brightens the soy-sriracha dressing with acid, cutting through the oil and amplifying the heat. Two tablespoons is enough to shift the entire flavor profile without overpowering the soy sauce. Toss the salad right before serving if you add it — the acid can soften the raw vegetables if it sits too long.
Where does the 16 grams of fiber come from?
Five sources: quinoa, edamame, cucumber, carrot, and radishes. Sixteen grams from a single bowl is substantial. Higher fiber intake has been independently associated with greater fat loss during caloric restriction.
Read the full evidence review
