Best Quinoa Salad Recipe Easy, Healthy & Delicious – I found this recipe on one of my favourite blogs: Quirky Cooking http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/quinoa-salad-thermomix-style.html and have tweeked it a bit to suit what was in my pantry.
It is a delicious salad and makes heaps – it would be great to take for a bbq (maybe omit chicken?), but I am using it for my lunch for the next couple of days (after having it for dinner last night) as it is super healthy and filling and very easy in the thermomix!
You can basically add whatever ingredients you have on hand, but this is my version.
Don’t forget that quinoa is pronounced as KEEN-wa!
Ingredients
- 450g Chicken thigh, cubed (boneless and skinless)
- 250g pumpkin thinly sliced
- 4 eggs
- 350g quinoa rinsed and soaked (overnight if possible, otherwise for as long as you can)
- 200g silverbeet and rainbow chard (but you can use baby spinach)
- 15 oil free sun dried tomatoes sliced thinly
- 15 green olives seeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 red onion finely chopped
- 100g feta reduced fat
- handful of basil
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Pepitas
- 1 Tablespoon Pine Nuts
- 1 Teaspoon kecap Manis
- 60 ml Balsamic Vinegar
- 60 ml Olive Oil
Method
Rinse quinoa and place in steamer basket and add 800g water to bowl. Wash the eggs thoroughly and place them on top of the quinoa.
Place lid on bowl and place chopped chicken in varoma dish and sliced pumpkin in varoma tray. Cook at Varoma Temperature at speed 4 for 15 minutes.
Give chicken a stir to ensure even cooking. Add silverbeet to varoma tray with pumpkin.
Cook at Varoma Temperature at speed 4 for 5 minutes
While quinoa is cooking, prepare sun dried tomatoes, olives, red onion. Place in a large bowl.
Once quinoa is cooked, remove eggs and place in a bowl of cold water to stop cooking process and to clean.
Place quinoa, chicken, pumpkin and silverbeet in large bowl with tomatoes, olives and onion and mix well.
Allow to cool.
When ready to serve add basil and feta and toss well. Peel eggs and cut into quarters and place on top of bowl.
In a dry frying pan add nuts and seeds and gently heat until the pepitas start to pop. Add kecap manis and cook for about 30 seconds. Sprinkle over salad.
Place balsamic and oil into a jar and shake and then serve with salad.
Serves: 8
Approximate calories per serve: 450