Quirky Quinoa Salad

We have posted about how much we love the super grain Quinoa before (check it out here) so I thought we should post another recipe for you all to try!  I made this for a family Summer BBQ we had last weekend.  I knew my sisters would love it however I was less certain about the boys in my family.  Our boys love salad – but they are very quick to tell you how much they hate the way we add ‘all that other junk’ (i.e chickpeas, fruit, noodles) to them – they just want normal green salads ‘like mum makes it’.  Time to think outside the box guys!

The result? My husband was at first cautious about this strange looking salad but I think it was proof that he loved it when he scoffed all of the salad leftovers before any of the others the following day!  SUCCESS!

If you’d like to make this more substantial (i,e as a complete meal), add some chicken or boiled eggs. Perfect for lunches as it can be pre-made just leave the dressing in a separate container until ready to eat.

This salad is GLUTEN FREE, LOW GI & HIGH FIBRE.  Leave out the white part of the spring onions and the chickpeas to make it LOW FODMAPS.

What You Need

• 170g (1 cup) mixed coloured quinoa as desired, soaked in enough water to cover for minimum 30 minutes
• 2 cups water
• 1 tin (425g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• ½ sweet potato or pumpkin (approx. 250g), sliced approx. 1 cm thick pieces
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 4 spring onion/shallots, sliced on the angle
• 3 sticks celery, sliced thinly
• 100g dried cranberries
• ½ cup pitted kalamata olives
• 100 g reduced fat feta, cubed
• 100g (approx) mixed toasted nuts and seeds, (I used walnut, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pepitas lightly roasted in the oven on a baking tray)
• ½ bag mixed salad greens or baby spinach
• Few Italian parsley leaves (optional)

Dressing:

• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 30g (1-2 tbsp) tamari or soy sauce
• 40g fresh lemon juice (or juice of approx. 2 small lemons)
• 30g (1-2 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil

How the Magic Happens

Doing it the traditional way:

1. Combine water and quinoa in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a large bowl. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, preheat chargrill or oven grill on med-high. Spray lightly with oil. Cook the sweet potato/pumpkin for 8-10 minutes or until slightly tender. Break up roughly into large pieces.
3. Add the all other ingredients to the quinoa.
4. Blend together the lemon juice, garlic, oil and soy sauce until well combined.  Add the dressing to the quinoa mixture.
5. Toss salad gently.  Top with extra seeds and serve!

Thermomix Magic:

1. Drain quinoa and place into simmering basket. Fill Thermomix bowl to 1L mark with water and set basket into bowl.
2. Place the lid on the bowl, with Varoma on top, and pumpkin/sweet potato spread evenly in Varoma dish. Ensure it is spread apart enough that steam can get through.
3. Steam quinoa 18 min/Varoma temp/speed 2. Remove basket from bowl and set aside to cool.
4. Meanwhile prepare the rest of the salad by combining all remaining salad ingredients.
5. Make dressing by placing all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blending 20 sec/speed 8.
6. Pour over prepared salad and add quinoa. Toss gently.
7. Garnish with additional seeds, nuts, spring onions etc.

Recipe inspired by Quirky Cooking and Tenina