Vegetable Quinoa Salad

I just downloaded an app for Oh She Glows on my iPhone & the first recipe I decided to make was for a Quinoa Salad. My friend has the Oh She Glows cookbook. I saw the cookbook on the counter at her house & glanced through it. It looked good so when I saw that there was an app available for just a few dollars, I decided to get it & I was not disappointed. The app looks good, easy to use & the pictures look really nice.

I didn’t have the same ingredients that were called for in the original recipe, so I used what I had in the refrigerator & cupboard, but made the dressing as the recipe said. With any salad, I think it is the combination of ingredients & the dressing of course that make or break the salad. I have lots of salad dressings I like to use, but decided to try this one. It turned out really well so I thought I would share it with you.

So this recipe I have here is inspired by & adapted from the Quinoa Salad with Garlic-Dijon Vinaigrette from Oh See Glows

 

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

Dressing

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 clove of garlic, minced

salt & pepper to taste

2 tsp maple syrup

Salad Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

1 red pepper

1 cup of grated carrots

1 zucchini, cut into small pieces

1 cup baby spinach

1 can chickpeas, rinsed & drained

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

salt & pepper to taste

optional: avocado

 

Method

Dressing

1. Mix all of the salad ingredients in a jar with a lid, shake well to combine ingredients & set aside

Salad

1. Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the package of quinoa…basically, put the 1 cup of quinoa in a saucepan ( rinse if the instructions say to), add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil & reduce the heat to medium/low & cook covered to about 12-15 minutes until all of the water is absorbed. Let sit covered for a few minutes & then let cool
2. While the quinoa is cooking you can prepare the vegetables…grate the carrots… cut up the zucchini, thinly slice the spinach  Set the vegetables aside
3. Drain the chickpeas & set aside
4. Put the pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds into a ungreased skillet & toast them …watch closely as they get brown very fast! Set aside to cool a bit
5. OK….. so now lets put this all together
6. Put the cooked quinoa into a bowl
7. Add all the vegetables, chickpeas & toasted seeds to the quinoa
8. Pour on the dressing & mix together
9. Add salt & pepper to taste
10. You can serve this with slices of avocado….

Enjoy!