Grain Salad, Inglewood Chicken Nibbles

Whoever said eating a salad was boring clearly hasn’t done much more than shred up lettuce and chuck some tomatoes and onions in! This delicious grain salad is one that, no matter the time of the year, day of the week or how much my stomach is grumbling, ticks every box! Trust me when I say – take note of this recipe 😉

birdseye view of grain salad and grilled chicken nibbles on a plate

Why I Love This Salad

As mentioned above – it just ticks all the boxes. If it’s hot BBQ weather, colder nights in front of the fire, or you have a group of friends over for wine and a chat. This delicious grain salad has you covered.

full of flavour
packed with healthy ingredients
fun to make
can be made in advance + keeps well in the fridge
tasty alone but great with any protein too

Ingredients Needed

To make a delicious grain salad, you do need a number of ingredients, but the beauty of that is every bite is a little different with texture from crisp peaches, peppery notes from the rocket, creamy avocado, charred sweetness from the corn and a delicious dressing too. I’ll go through a few substitutions below, too, if you can’t access any or if they aren’t in season.

Another thing to mention about this delicious quinoa salad is all the ingredients are readily available in any grocery store, so no need to stress about hitting multiple shops to get dinner cooked!

quinoa – this is the grain element of the salad, so best not to skip this one! I used tricolour quinoa, but you can use any that’s accessible to you!
avocado – look for ones that aren’t too soft or firm, so they have a little bite still
corn – buy it in the cob if possible so you can grill them to bring out a little sweetness and add a smokey char flavour to the dish too
onion – I used thinly sliced red onion but shallots or spring onions work too
tomatoes – your choice, whatever is well priced and you like to eat!
lettuce – I used rocket for its pepper flavour, but any green leaf will work
peaches – when I first made this dish, peaches were in season, and they add a lovely sweetness to the dish, but you can use thinly sliced pear, segmented orange or even thin slices of pineapple would work too
herbs – I used coriander as I am a lover of it, but parsley, dill, or chives would work too

How To Make Easy Grain Salad

Right, you have read through the list of ingredients, and yes, you may think it’s a heck of a lot to use but trust me – every component works together in harmony!

someone in the kitchen sliving onions with other ingredients on the counter top

I always advise getting all your ingredients ready/prepped first – especially when making something for the first time. Yeah, it may take a few mins longer to make this delicious grain salad, but you better get it right the first time, and then you can learn to take shortcuts the second time around.

Cook the quinoa – this is prob the bit that takes the longest, and you also want it to cool slightly, too so get this going, and you can prepare the rest of the ingredients. The packet will have good instructions, but rinse the quinoa and then 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Approx 10-12mins and it should be done
Char the corn! I used my gas BBQ for this one, but you can use a charcoal BBQ, grill pan, or even a blowtorch. It won’t provide the same flavour, but it’ll give you that nice charred look 😉
Prepare the remaining ingredients. Simply – slice the onions thinly, chop the tomatoes & peaches into segments, and at the last minute, slice the avo thinly. We do the avo at the end so that it doesn’t brown
If using herbs then you can roughly chop it and add all the ingredients to the cooked quinoa along with some salt too

birdseye view of grain salad in a bowl with napkin and wooden salad tongs beside

Salad Dressing

For this, I used a combo of wholegrain mustard, honey, oil and salt. Shake, stir, whisk or blend it up. Once ready to serve, drizzle over some of the dressing and toss to combine. I like to leave extra on the side for people to add their own accordingly!

What To Serve With A Grain Salad

So – you are putting together the most delicious grain salad for your mates to enjoy and need some ideas on what to serve with it. Beer or wine goes great, in my opinion, but let’s look at a protein for those meat fans!

chicken nibbles being grilled on the bbq

I went with some delicious Inglewood Farm honey soy chicken nibbles when I did this the other day. Aside from all the work being done with them being pre-marinated, they are also super easy to cook. But one of my favourite things, when I have mates over for a BBQ, is to get stuck in with my hands too! These nibbles are readily available throughout Australia, are easy on the wallet and are bloody delicious too!

If you want other ideas, then try these out

chicken – breast or thigh works great
beef – who doesn’t love a medium rare steak? Ribeye, striploin or my favourite a bit of bavette
pork – chops, loin or some thinly sliced belly down on the grill

Honestly, you can serve anything with this salad and the results will be killer!

Alternative Salad Recipes

So…. you are in the mood for some tasty and healthy salads and have already fallen in love with my delicious grain salad? Well, lucky for you, I have a few others up my sleeve! Check out these recipes below and get cooking!

There are plenty more options to choose from on my site so just search “salad” and enjoy!

Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!

Grain Salad w/Chicken Niblets

fresh, flavourful and bbq ready!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Australian

Keyword: ancient grain salad, grain salad, inglewood farms

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 651kcal

Author: AnotherFoodBlogger

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

¾ cup quinoa
2 ears corn
2 peaches
1 avocado
½ small red onion
3 tomatoes
150 g lettuce
1 handful coriander

Dressing

150 ml oil
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp honey
salt

Instructions

Cook quinoa according to the packet
Thinly slice red onion, cut tomatoes into wedges, peel and thinly slice avo, cut peaches into wedges, char corn and remove from the husk and finely chop the coriander
Once quinoa is cooked and cooled slightly add all the remaining ingredients and toss to combine
Whisk or shake the dressing ingredients in a jar and add ½ to the quinoa salad. Taste and add more dressing as required.

Notes

Tips/Tricks

you can prepare the majority of ingredients in advance and then toss to combine closer to serving. Leave cutting the avo until you serve the salad
I cut my tomatoes & peaches into 8 wedges per piece but feel free to dice or cut thinner/thicker
this salad will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge, so make a little extra and take it to work 😉

Nutrition