I find that you can add absolutely any vegetable – raw or cooked and or any fruit to cooked quinoa and it will make a delicious salad.
During the summer months I like to keep these salads light and the dressings made with lemon, lime, fresh herbs and at times a bit of sweetness.
In the winter months I find this salad to be lovely and warming with this delicious rich Tai dressing.
You can enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, snack or a side for dinner along side a lovely green salad. Make extra dressing and add it to your green salad as well.
Enjoy
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Tips for Cooking Quinoa
Quinoa is a complete protein containing all eight essential amino acids. It’s light and fluffy in texture but has that whole grain ability to fill people up–and if you’ve got company coming, this recipe easily doubles to serve eight people. I prefer to cook with coloured quinoa as it makes any salad look wonderful.
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa (I like to add a bit more quinoa – perhaps 2 tbsp. / 1 cup)
2 cups water or organic chicken stalk or organic vegetable stalk…
Cooking tips
Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve until water runs clear, drain and transfer to a medium pot. Add water or stock of choice and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is absorbed for about 7 – 10 minutes. Set aside off the heat with lid on for 20 minutes; uncover and fluff with a fork. Cool before adding to cool salads. Keep in fridge to add to any salad, have as morning porridge or add to any soup
Quinoa Salad with Tai Dressing
Print RecipeIngredients
- Salad
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 cup broccoli florets, finely chopped
- 1 cup red bell pepper cut into thin slices
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot or cut in thin slices
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cashews, chopped (optional)
- Dressing
- 1/4 cup creamy almond butter (or organic peanut butter)
- 1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon gluten-free tamari
- 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 – 3 tablespoons water (more if you prefer a thinner dressing)
Instructions
Simply add all the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
Some prefer to gently steam their broccoli for a couple of minutes before adding to salad. Raw or steamed is just perfect.
Drizzle dressing over salad and toss gently until everything is coated.
Feel free to add a bit more water if you would like a thinner consistency.
Serve immediately or store in fridge for up to 3 days.
Enjoy!
Notes
Personally I enjoy purchasing as many "organic" ingredients as possible from the red pepper to the almond butter. Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a 7,000-year-old plant that originated in the mountainous regions of South America. (1) While it is commonly known as an “ancient grain,” quinoa is technically not a grain or cereal grain, but a seed, and does not contain gluten. Quinoa is a rare plant food that is actually a complete protein source. Although not every food you eat has to be a complete protein, it’s somewhat rare for a plant food to have the complete profile of all 20 amino acids, including the 10 essential acids our body doesn’t produce on its own.
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