Tasty Tricolour Quinoa Salad (Dairy. Egg. Gluten. Free.)
Quinoa! That grain (it is actually a seed!) that’s full of protein! 🙂 Standard quinoa (at least in the UK) is the white variety and more frequently available now from local sources. However, quinoa also comes in red and black varieties. I cooked some of the black as a side to my Spiral Salad and I couldn’t believe the difference in taste! I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but it was not a very dark nutty mouthful! Instantly I decided I didn’t like it and fed it to the boys instead who said it was nice! 🙂 Before trying the red quinoa on its own and the thought of being disappointed, I decided to mix all three together! 🙂
My tricolour quinoa salad was born and combining them all together is definitely the thing to do! It’s full of flavour, rich and wholesome without being overpowering. The flavours I have added really bring out the taste and this is definitely one to go in the keeper pile! Oh and it’s a delicious lunchbox food!
Gather
- Dash of coconut oil
- 40g white quinoa
- 30g red quinoa
- 30g black quinoa
- 350ml water
- 1/4 teaspoon apple cyder vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (I used pink Himalayan)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I use freshly ground)
- 1/4 teaspoon nigella seeds (onion/kalonji)
- 20g cashew nuts
- 40g (7 small) cherry tomatoes halved
- 40g (2-3cm) cucumber diced
- 1/2 a fresh red chilli thinly sliced
- 10g (5) destoned black olives chopped
- 1 heaped teaspoon (3 small leaved sprigs) fresh mint finely chopped
Prepare
- Melt the coconut oil in a lidded pan and add all three types of quinoa. Lightly toast for 30-60 seconds.
- Carefully pour in the water, bring to the boil then reduce the heat, put the lid on and leave for 15 minutes. Check it for texture and if needed, cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the vinegar, salt, pepper and nigella seeds.
- Spoon into a serving dish to aid the cooling process (if you’re eating it immediately, it doesn’t have to be cold, but if preparing in advance, I would let it cool) then stir in the cashews, tomatoes, cucumber, chili and olives.
- Sprinkle over the mint and stir through.
- Enjoy!
Serve & Store
- Serve as it is for a delicious lunch, a nutritious snack or a light dinner.
- Use as an accompaniment to a heavy sauce based dish.
- Pack it in a pot and take it to work (try to store it chilled).
- Serve alongside a bowl of soup.
- Refrigerate covered for up to three days.
