In this series, I have already shared two salad recipes by now and this is the third one and it clearly shows that I am a big fan of salads. The main ingredient of our recipe today is Quinoa. You must have heard a lot about quinoa and its benefits. But have you tried it yet?

First time when I tried quinoa, I didn’t like the taste as it was slightly bitter. It has a nutty flavour to it. The trick is to wash it properly before using. Quinoa contains a substance called Saponin which gives it this bitter flavour. When you wash it properly, saponin comes out and you can reduce the bitterness. I cook it on a pan with little oil before using to bring out the nutty flavour and to remove the bitterness.

Quinoa is a seed/grain with high protein content as it has all nine amino acids present in it.  It is rich in fiber, iron, and magnesium. It can be easily used in salads, porridges and even any dish where you use rice. Just substitute rice with quinoa. For cooking use double water just like how you cook rice but it cooks faster than rice.

Quinoa keeps you energetic due to the presence of iron, magnesium, and fiber in it. It is gluten free and cholesterol free.

Today we are making Quinoa vegetable salad which is very easy to make. You can use any salad vegetables which you like and even you can add roasted chicken to it if you are a non-vegetarian.

 


It is a complete meal in itself and a light and healthy lunch option.

 

Quinoa vegetable salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Brunch
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Quinoa salad with vegetables is a healthy recipe. It is easy to make with the benefits of the super grain Quinoa.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 cucumber finely diced
  • 2 cherry tomatoes
  • ½ small onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup zucchini chopped (yellow and green)
  • ½ cup capsicum diced (different colors)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbs. lemon juice
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. First of all wash quinoa nicely with free water to remove the bitterness.
  2. Boil water in a pan and add quinoa and cook like how you cook rice. Just check that it is soft and well cooked.
  3. Now drain quinoa and rinse under cold running water. Keep aside.
  4. Chop and dice all the vegetables you are using for the salad.
  5. Add quinoa and stir in cucumber, tomatoes, onion, zucchini, carrots, and capsicum.
  6. Lastly add salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon. Toss it nicely and serve fresh.
Notes
You can use vegetables according to your choice of a quinoa salad.
You can even make quinoa pulao, quinoa porridge and use it in soups and burgers.
Make sure you cook it properly to remove the bitterness.
You can even add nuts to your salads.

Read here – My A to Z challenge posts 2017

Find out more – Nutrition tips and nutritional recipes 

Read my theme reveal post here.


I am sharing 26 healthy recipes under 30 minutes full this month.

See the recipes till now –

A for Apple coconut squares

B for a Bracing burger

C for Carrot walnut muffins

D for Dhokla with a twist

E for Eggless Pancake

F for Fruit chocolate pops 

G for Gluten-free Spinach and rice balls

H for Honey strawberry milkshake

I for Instant paneer tikka 

J for Jaggery Dates chutney

K for Kale grilled sandwich

L for Lemon cranberry mojito

M for Mango brown rice salad

N for Nutritious party crackers

O for Oats beetroot Dosa

P for Pineapple Pomegranate Parfait

Healthy recipes



Loading