Quinoa Salad
2019…How did you get here so fast? I asked myself this question so many times in the first day of the new year, that I was certain I would answer myself. But the truth is, time has passed so fast, that I couldn’t believe the new year was upon us already. And all those plans I had for starting the new year with healthy eats went right out the window as I took a bite of the leftover Fruit Cake and sipped on the last of my Ponche de Creme.
But one thing I discovered as I enjoyed the last of my Christmas goodies is that there is no right time to eat healthy. It’s something that we should be doing all the time. And I will confess, over the last two months my healthy eating went bye bye and I filled my plate with all those things that I know I’m not supposed to eat. So I’m a couple of days late in starting the new year on a healthier note, but as they say ‘Better Late than Never’!
Don’t worry though, there will still have plenty of baking recipes coming to you, but to start off with the healthy, but tasty recipes, first up is my Quick and Easy Quinoa Salad. I know that many people aren’t big fans of Quinoa, but this salad will help change your mind! Made with fresh veggies from our garden, with a simple vinaigrette, it takes one bowl and goes well as a side dish or simply enjoy by itself.
Quinoa Salad – makes 4 – 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dried Quinoa
- 1/2 cup red onion or yellow chopped
- 1 sm cucumber chopped
- 2 med tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 sm apple chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp xylitol or regular sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsps sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Directions:
- Cook dried quinoa according to package directions. Once cooked, let cool to room temperature.
- While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, prepare the fruit and veggies but chopping them up and adding to a bowl along with the cranberries and and a splash of the lemon juice to ensure the apple don’t turn brown, then set aside.
- Next mix the remaining lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, xylitol, olive oil, pepper and 1 tsp of the sea salt in a small bowl, to form the dressing. Mix until well blended and everything is dissolved.
- Now to build your salad. Add the cooled quinoa to the bowl with the fruit and veggies. Mix to combine, then add the dressing and toss again making sure everything gets coated. Check your salad for salt, and add the remaining 1 tsp of sea salt if you desire.
- Enjoy right away or chill and serve later.
Just a couple of notes
We don’t use coconut oil for this recipe, because when it chills it becomes hard and you end up with chunks of coconut oil and not a fluid dressing. However if you are serving it at room temperature and right away, you could substitute the olive oil with coconut oil.
