Quick Quinoa Salad
This can be made really quickly if you use pre-cooked quinoa (eg Merchant Gourmet) and makes for a very healthy, delicious and protein-rich lunch, dinner or side salad. There are no strict rules so feel free to add your favourite veggies, tofu, seeds and dressing!
Ingredients:
- 250g/1 packet pre-cooked quinoa (eg Merchant Gourmet) OR 1½ cups uncooked quinoa, thoroughly rinsed and left to dry in the sieve
- 1 avocado, sliced
- ½ tin cannellini beans (or any beans of your choice), drained and rinsed
- Handful ready-made croutons
- 150g marinated tofu, diced (or use pre-cooked seitan or tempeh... lightly fried on each side)
- 2 handfuls cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- ¼ red onion, finely diced
- Handful mixed seeds
- Handful fresh herbs of your choice (optional)
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Basic dressing
(make your own or buy a ready-made dressing eg French dressing or balsamic. You can use tahini or get indulgent with Follow Your Heart blue cheese dressing)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 tsp vegan syrup (eg maple or agave)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Method:
If cooking quinoa from scratch:
- Heat a little oil in a medium saucepan and add the rinsed and dried quinoa.
- Fry for a couple of minutes and then add 2 ¼ cups water to the pan.
- Bring to the boil then cover and simmer on low-med until all the water has been absorbed (around 15 minutes)... keep checking regularly.
If using pre-cooked quinoa:
- Add the quinoa to a large bowl and stir through a bit of olive oil and salt to soften it up.
- Add all of the other ingredients to the bowl and stir through.
Dressing
- Mix all the ingredients together in a mug or shake up in a jar.
- Add to the salad and stir through.
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