Quinoa Salad
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 247.5
- Total Fat: 12.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
- Sodium: 440.2 mg
- Total Carbs: 29.6 g
- Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 6.0 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Quinoa Salad calories by ingredient
Introduction
Quinoa is a delicious, underused ingredient. It's easy to cook, delicious and great for you. Despite its appearance, it is not a grain, but is more closely related to spinach.Due to its increasing popularity, Quinoa is more widely available than it was a few years ago. Health food stores and gourmet markets often offer it in bulk, which is a far more cost effective way to purchase it.
This is a very basic salad recipe, the veggies can be changed to fit what's in season. It keeps very well in the fridge and will last a few days at least, making it a great bag lunch choice. Quinoa is a delicious, underused ingredient. It's easy to cook, delicious and great for you. Despite its appearance, it is not a grain, but is more closely related to spinach.
Due to its increasing popularity, Quinoa is more widely available than it was a few years ago. Health food stores and gourmet markets often offer it in bulk, which is a far more cost effective way to purchase it.
This is a very basic salad recipe, the veggies can be changed to fit what's in season. It keeps very well in the fridge and will last a few days at least, making it a great bag lunch choice.
Number of Servings: 6
Ingredients
-
For the Quinoa:
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 large bell pepper
1 large carrot
3 stalks celery
2 large green onions
1/2 cup shelled pumpkin or sunflower seeds
For the dressing:
3 Tbsps fresh lemon juice (yield from 1 or 2 lemons)
1/4 cup olive oil
About 15 cloves of garlic, roasted
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Makes 6 1-cup servings.
Put your quinoa in a bowl or pot and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for 15 minutes. This step is very important as soaking releases the saponin on the outside of the quinoa seeds, saponin is quite bitter and will leave your salad with an unpleasant aftertaste.
While your quinoa is soaking, dice the pepper, green, celery and carrots finely, and juice your lemons.
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer and put in a pot along with 1 1/2 cups water and salt (the salt is optional but if you're not on a strict sodium diet I recommend it). Bring the pot to a boil without a lid, once the water is boiling reduce the heat to low and cover. Allow the quinoa to cook for another 15 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to stand another five before fluffing with a fork and transferring to a bowl to cool.
While your quinoa is cooling, mash up the roasted garlic and then combine it with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens slightly, about a minute. Use a fork or wooden spoon to occasionally fluff and turn the quinoa while it is cooling, though it doesn't need to be perfectly cool to make the salad, as long as it's not unpleasantly warm to the touch, you should be fine.
Mix the quinoa, veggies and seeds together and then pour on the dressing and stir, let the salad sit for at least 30 minutes so that the flavors can mingle. If you eat dairy, a little bit of feta cheese sprinkled on top is delicious.
(If you've never roasted garlic, the process is quite simple. Take a whole head of garlic and slice off the top with a knife, remove the outermost papery skin. Put the garlic on a small piece of tinfoil and pour about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil on top (this is calculated into the calorie count for this recipe). Make a loose pouch around the garlic with the tinfoil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and very soft. Allow to cool before removing the cloves.)
Note: The 1 cup serving assumes this is a main dish to be eaten with a piece of fruit or other side. As a side salad, half cup servings at 124 calories per piece are more appropriate. As a single dish meal, you may want 1.5 cup servings at 372 calories per piece. An ounce of feta on top will add 75 more calories
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user IPSAFICTURA.
Put your quinoa in a bowl or pot and cover with cold water. Allow to soak for 15 minutes. This step is very important as soaking releases the saponin on the outside of the quinoa seeds, saponin is quite bitter and will leave your salad with an unpleasant aftertaste.
While your quinoa is soaking, dice the pepper, green, celery and carrots finely, and juice your lemons.
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer and put in a pot along with 1 1/2 cups water and salt (the salt is optional but if you're not on a strict sodium diet I recommend it). Bring the pot to a boil without a lid, once the water is boiling reduce the heat to low and cover. Allow the quinoa to cook for another 15 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to stand another five before fluffing with a fork and transferring to a bowl to cool.
While your quinoa is cooling, mash up the roasted garlic and then combine it with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens slightly, about a minute. Use a fork or wooden spoon to occasionally fluff and turn the quinoa while it is cooling, though it doesn't need to be perfectly cool to make the salad, as long as it's not unpleasantly warm to the touch, you should be fine.
Mix the quinoa, veggies and seeds together and then pour on the dressing and stir, let the salad sit for at least 30 minutes so that the flavors can mingle. If you eat dairy, a little bit of feta cheese sprinkled on top is delicious.
(If you've never roasted garlic, the process is quite simple. Take a whole head of garlic and slice off the top with a knife, remove the outermost papery skin. Put the garlic on a small piece of tinfoil and pour about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil on top (this is calculated into the calorie count for this recipe). Make a loose pouch around the garlic with the tinfoil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and very soft. Allow to cool before removing the cloves.)
Note: The 1 cup serving assumes this is a main dish to be eaten with a piece of fruit or other side. As a side salad, half cup servings at 124 calories per piece are more appropriate. As a single dish meal, you may want 1.5 cup servings at 372 calories per piece. An ounce of feta on top will add 75 more calories
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user IPSAFICTURA.