It’s cherry season! Put this on your radar because this cherry salad is worth the 20 minutes of your life. It’s quick, simple, and full of flavor and texture. Full of quinoa, arugula, blue cheese, walnuts and flavor packed citrus dressing!

Why you will love this Cherry Salad!
It’s an incredibly fun way to celebrate and enjoy fresh cherries. I have vetted the flavor and taste experience for you, meaning, the next 20 minutes of prep is worth your time. All the ingredients come together in a flavor-bursting sort of earthy way that will make you happy to have this on your salad plate. Let’s do this! Here are the ingredients, listed below:
Ingredients

- Dry Quinoa – quinoa comes in red, white, or black. I use white or a mix of red/white for this recipe. Quinoa is a whole grain packed with nutrients, fiber, protein, and plant compounds.
- Water or Broth – both are acceptable.
- Fresh Cherries – select red, shiny, and firm cherries for the greatest flavor experience.
- Fresh Rosemary – just a small sprig will do, finely chopped.
- Fresh Thyme – 1-2 sprigs, leaves removed from stems.
- Blue Cheese – I prefer purchasing blue cheese in a block to save space and for longer storage longevity. Pick a medium firm and creamy blue cheese that can hold its shape. For this salad, I chose a buttermilk blue roth blue cheese from Wisconsin.
- Walnuts – walnuts pair beautifully with blue cheese, but you can sub with pecans as well.
- Arugula – arugula greens add a nice leafy, peppery experience to complete this salad.
- 1 Recipe of my favorite Simple Citrus Dressing.
How to make this cherry salad recipe

- Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low-medium and let simmer for 15 minutes, covered. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, fluff. Quinoa is typically 1:2 ratio of water, but I cut back the water to allow for the dressing absorption.
- Simple Citrus Dressing is a staple in my house. Place all ingredients in a mason jar in the order of ingredients listed and allow it to marinate while you assemble the salad. The lemon will dissolve the honey. Once your salad is ready to toss, shake all the ingredients in the jar on pour over the salad to toss.
- Toss together cooled quinoa, cherries, rosemary, tarragon, walnuts, arugula, blue cheese, and dressing. Garnish with more blue cheese as desired.
- Serves four, leftovers will store overnight for one day.
Equipment
- 2 Qt pot and lid
- Cutting board and knife
- Cherry Pitter - This plastic cherry pitter is my favorite. But they also come in stainless metal.
- Salad serving bowl and tongs for tossing
How to select cherries
Whether you purchase at your local fruit stand, farmers market, or the grocery store, look for: Firm to the touch, bright and shiny. When cherries have aged they look mat or dull. Cherries will last 3 to five days max, so use them up quickly. To avoid molding, spread them out on a baking sheet so they can breathe. That's it!


Cherry Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
Simple Citrus Dressing
- 1 Lemon Zest and Juice
- 1 Tbs Honey
- 1 Shallot medium, finely chopped
- ⅓ c Olive Oil extra virgin
- Black Pepper crushed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper crushed
- Make first and set aside to marinate
Cherry Salad Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa dry
- 1 ¾ cups water or broth
- ¾ c cherries pitted and quartered
- 2 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves removed from stems
- ½ c blue cheese crumbled
- ½ c walnuts roughly chopped
- 1-2 handfuls arugula
Instructions
- Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low-medium and let simmer for 15 minutes, covered. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, fluff. Quinoa is typically 1:2 ratio on water, but I cut back the water to allow for the dressing absorption.
- Simple Citrus Dressing is a staple in my house. Place all ingredients in a mason jar in order ingredients listed and allow to marinate while you assemble the salad. The lemon will dissolve the honey. Once your salad is ready to toss, shake all the ingredients in the jar on pour over the salad to toss.
- Toss together cooled quinoa, cherries, rosemary, tarragon, walnuts, arugula, blue cheese and dressing. Garnish with more blue cheese as desired.
- Serves four, leftovers will store overnight for one day.
Notes

Nutrition

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