Grilled Peach Quinoa Bowl with Pink Peppercorn Prosecco Vinaigrette

This delicious, healthy and filling quinoa bowl recipe boasts of heart healthy quinoa, fresh grilled peaches, toasted sunflower seed encrusted goat cheese balls, toasted almond slices and is finished with a pink peppercorn prosecco vinaigrette. It will leave you feeling satisfied, and guess what? It pairs well with a chilled glass of prosecco. Cheers!

grilled peach quinoa bowl

Harvesting the Summer Season

We love the harvest of the summer season. Peaches are in season right now. The peach trees on the farm are full of luscious, gorgeous and irresistible peaches. They have varieties of white, yellow, donut, and mango peaches, just to mention a few.

When I arrive at the farm, I am literally that classic kid in the candy store. I love going to the farm in the summertime. In June its strawberry and blueberry picking and in July the cherry trees are abundant with deep dark red cherries. August offers a plethora of ripe peaches from the peach threes. And, in the upcoming Autumn the variety of apples, pears and pumpkins will be ripe for the picking. It’s the most beautiful time of the harvest season.

Healthy Quinoa Bowl

Quinoa bowls have been all the rage for the past few years. There are endless recipes that you can find with just a click of the search button. It is a wonderful thing, since most are healthy quinoa recipes loaded with veggies and fruits. 

This grilled peach quinoa bowl is healthy and delicious. Grilling the peaches brings out their natural sweetness. The char on the fruit gives it an extra layer of grilled flavor. Quinoa is known to be a good source of protein, it contains many essential amino acids, and is loaded with fiber and a variety of vitamins and antioxidants. It is naturally gluten free, and it is one of the world’s most popular health foods. Learn more about the proven health benefits of quinoa in this post from Healthline.

Toasted Sunflower Seed Goat Cheese Balls

I made these simple delicious goat cheese balls coated with toasted sunflower seeds. I love the flavor of goat cheese and combining goat cheese with fruit and nuts, or seeds just make it that much better. All you need to do is ball out about a teaspoon of goat cheese and roll them in sunflower seeds. You can substitute sunflower seeds with just about any nut or seeds. Chopped almonds or walnuts would be great in this bowl too.

Recipe Variation

If you follow a strictly plant-based diet or dairy free diet, you can easily omit these toasted sunflower goat cheese balls and the grill peach quinoa bowl will still be tasty without them. This recipe is for a vegetarian quinoa bowl but can easily be vegan with any soft vegan cheese substitution.

sunflower goat cheese balls

Homemade Prosecco and Pink Peppercorn Salad Dressing

The dressing contains alcohol from the prosecco. It is not much, and you really can’t taste the alcohol. We always make our own salad dressing. I can’t tell you the last time we purchased a bottle of store-bought salad dressing. Homemade salad dressings are the easiest to make and they are fresh. Not to mention, you know exactly what the ingredients are. You don’t need a science degree to interpret the ingredients. There are no preservatives or artificial ingredients in most homemade salad dressing recipes.

What do pink peppercorns taste like?

This prosecco and pink peppercorn salad dressing is a great enhancer of the grilled peach quinoa bowl. It livens up the bowl and you can taste the pink peppercorns. They have a mild pepper flavor with a hint of sweetness. They tend to be a softer peppercorn than the popular black peppercorns. Pink peppercorns are also softer, they are not ideal for most pepper grinders as they will jam up the grinder. It is best to crush them with the back of a knife. In this case, for the dressing, you can place the whole peppercorns into the blender, and they will get ground up.

prosecco and pink peppercorn vinaigrette

Now, let’s get to the recipe…

Ingredients - For the Quinoa Bowl

spinach - thinly sliced

quinoa - cooked

peaches - quartered and grilled

sliced almonds - toasted

sunflower seeds - toasted

goat cheese

oil - for grilling the peaches

Ingredients - For the Pink Peppercorn Prosecco Vinaigrette

grapeseed oil

prosecco

white balsamic vinegar

pepper jelly

dried parsley flakes

pink peppercorns

sea salt

Directions - For the Quinoa Bowl

Cook quinoa according to package directions. In the meantime, thinly slice two cups of fresh spinach. Once the quinoa has finished cooking, remove from heat and stir in the spinach. The heat will wilt the spinach.

Generously oil the grill (air grill works great) and place the quartered peaches on the grill. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side. Let cool to room temperature.

Ball out about ½ teaspoon of goat cheese and form into small balls. Coat the cheese balls with the toasted sunflower seeds. (If using raw sunflower seeds, toast ahead of time and let cool completely).

Add quinoa spinach mix into a serving bowl and top with grilled peaches, sunflower coated goat cheese balls, toasted almond slices, julienned spinach and dress with pink peppercorn prosecco vinaigrette.

Pink Peppercorn Prosecco Vinaigrette

Place all ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend well. Transfer into a separate container and set aside. Please note that separation will occur. Shake well before serving.

You may also like our Peach and Tomato Panzanella Salad. It is made with rime peaches and sweet tomatoes.