Colourful Quinoa Salad

I have been eating, breathing, and dreaming about dietetic applications these past weeks. It’s a very stressful process, and as many of you know high stress often leads us to reach for on-the-go convenience foods.

To avoid this temptation I have been preparing this simple recipe for quinoa salad, and thought I’d share with you! It’s delicious, nutritious and keeps you satisfied for a long time – oh that fibre and protein! I need to get back to my applications so I’m going to keep this one short J

Ingredients

8 servings

For the Salad

• 1 cup quinoa (dry)
• 1 tbsp oil (canola or olive)
• 2 cups water
• 4 stalks of celery (cut in half down the center and then chopped)
• 1 medium red bell pepper (cut into thin strips and then chopped)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup chopped baby carrots
• 1 540ml can black beans (no salt added)*
• 1 540ml can chick peas (no salt added)*

For the Dressing

• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup fig vinegar
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

*If you cannot find “no salt added” cans, rinse them for an additional 2-3 mins

**You can top the salad with some toasted pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds for an extra crunch

Instructions

1. Over medium heat toast quinoa using 1 tbsp oil for about 3-5 mins – this gives the quinoa a nuttier flavour!
2. Add water and bring quinoa to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 mins.
3. Let the quinoa cool for about 5 mins and then fluff with fork.
4. Rinse beans & chick peas thoroughly (until water runs clear).
5. Whisk olive oil with red wine vinegar, fig vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. If you don’t have olive oil you can use canola oil, and you could also use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine and fig vinegar.
6. In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together. Chill overnight. Consume.  

Not that I want you to concentrate on specific values of nutrients or calories but just in case you were wondering...

Comment with any variations that you enjoy! That is all.