Q is for Quinoa Salad (Jessica)

Happy August!

I can't believe it's already August, it feels like summer can't be winding to a close, it just started! But alas, soon another school year will begin and we'll start thinking about eating more pumpkin (yum) and apple cider and imagining that it will be cold here in California (I hope it stays warm!).

In the meantime, to stave off the advancing seasons, I'm writing to you about a delicious and very summery quinoa salad. Perfect for lunch or as a side-dish to something done on the grill. And pretty darn healthy as well.


Quinoa Salad (with pears, spinach, and chickpeas)
from glutenfreegoddess.com

Ingredients:
1 cup dried quinoa
2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves, washed and dried

1 pear, cut into pieces

1/2 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

A handful of pecans, pan toasted and salted to taste

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar (I didn't have golden, so I used regular balsamic vinegar)
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

1. Make the quinoa: place quinoa in a saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of sea salt. Cover and cook on low until all the water is evaporated and the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

2. Make the dressing: whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

3. In a large bowl, mix baby spinach, pear, chick peas, and chopped parsley. Add quinoa and combine. Season to taste with sea salt and ground pepper.

4. Just before serving, add the toasted pecans and maple vinaigrette dressing.

Review: 

This salad was great! The combination of spinach and quinoa was tasty and the parsley really gave it some extra lift. Plus, fruit in a salad is the way to go.  

You can adjust the amounts of any ingredient based on preference, but the above worked out well for me. Also, I followed the advice in the original recipe notes and added some of the dressing to the quinoa as it was cooling because I knew I wasn't going to make the salad until the next day. What a difference! This was a perfect lunch, try it out! 

My lunch!

Have a great week, 

-Jessica