Quinoa Salad
This is a super-easy, super tasty, and super healthy meal for your on-the-go life, or for when you're wanting to just have a super something to satisfy your taste buds. Enjoy.
| Category: | Savoury Mains |
Ingredients
Quinoa
| 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed. |
| 1 1/4 cups water |
Quinoa Salad
| 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided |
| 4 bunches green onions |
| 2 pieces zucchini |
| 1/2 tsp Kosher salt |
| 1/4 tsp ground pepper |
| 1 tsp basil, dried |
| 1/4 tsp thyme, dried |
| 1/2 tsp oregano, dried |
| 1 Tbsp garlic scape pesto, or 1 garlic clove |
| 1/4 tsp birds eye chili flakes |
| 1/2 tsp Kosher salt (for finishing) |
| 1/4 tsp ground pepper (for finishing) |
| 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar |
Quinoa Salad Directions
Start by making quinoa. My basic quinoa recipe is 1 cup of quinoa to 1.25 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil and then add the quinoa. Stir it all in, then turn the temperature to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. If after 15 minutes there is still a bit of water in the bottom, leave the lid off of the pot and just turn off the stove. It should just evaporate off. If there is way too much water, just drain it off. The quinoa should look a bit like a flat expanded version of what you put into the pot.
Pre-heating a skillet pan over medium heat.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil.
Chop green onion and add to pan. Then chop remaining vegetables as you finish chopping them. I chopped my vegetables into 1 cm (1/4inch) square pieces to have uniformity. Stir to combine and allow the vegetables to cook evenly.
Next add your herbs & spices. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir.
When the mixture has cooked down a bit (about 4-5 minutes) add in balsamic vinegar and remaining olive oil. Stir to combine and coat the oil and balsamic vinegar. The heat from the pan will cause your vinegar to evaporate and the vegetables will absorb some of that balsamic goodness to give a really nice flavour.
Remove from heat and stir in quinoa. Season to taste.
Serve warm, or cold. Garnish with green onion or chives.
Store any remaining salad in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days.
*Notes: Feel free to add/subtract any of the vegetables/spices that you want. I've made quinoa salad with toasted and sliced almonds, cranberries, sun dried tomatoes, raisins, currants, olives, and the list goes on and on. Be creative and let me know what you end up making.
