Sweet n' Healthy Quinoa Salad

Submitted by Anne Richardson

 

1 C quinoa
2 C water
1/4 C almonds, chopped
2 C fresh strawberries, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (or 2 halves, different colors)
1/2 C raw pumpkin seeds (or called pepitas-they’re green)
2 C or 1 can corn
2 C (cooked) or 1 can black beans
1/2 C Craisins
Approximately 1/3 C Brianna’s Poppyseed Salad Dressing
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp cumin powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

This recipe is extremely flexible.  If you want you can add various ingredients like the green bell pepper I mentioned earlier, some onions or other types of nuts.  And if you’re short an ingredient (I did that once too for a potluck Christmas party last year), don’t worry, people won’t know the difference and it will still taste great!

You may already be familiar with the whole grain “Quinoa.”  If you’re not, then the first thing you need to learn is how to pronounce it: KEEN – WA.  It’s a whole grain, super good for you, high in iron, fiber and amino acids, and it can be dressed up in many different ways.

Measure out 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, add the quinoa and cover the pot.  Cook it over medium heat for 12 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed.  Don’t overcook it; we want it to be nice and moist.  This should give you about 4 cups of quinoa.

You can gather the other ingredients while the quinoa is cooking.  I prefer this salad to be cold, so you’ll want to leave enough time to let it cool off before you’re eat.

First you’ll need about 1/4 cup almonds.  We really like to soak almonds in our family.  All you do to soak them is put them in a little water for 6-10 hours and they start to absorb the water and plump up like they’re going to sprout.

They are healthier this way too, and softer to eat, but still crunchy.  If you have time and can remember details, you can soak your almonds the night before and use those in the recipe.  I have done it both ways, but remembering details is definitely not my strong suit.  Either way grab your food chopper or a knife and cut them up into smaller chunks.

Next you’ll dice up your strawberries.  You want about 2 cups, but more or less is fine.

Next dice up a bell pepper.  I did half a red bell pepper and half an orange one this time around.  If you like a little contrast to the sweet you can do half of a green bell pepper.

Next measure out about a 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds. These are crunchy and so so so yummy in this salad!  You can usually find raw pumpkin seeds in the freezer at your health food store.

Open up your can of corn and black beans.  I drain them both, but I rinse out the black beans.

Once your Quinoahas cooled you can throw it all together in a big bowl with a ½ cup of craisins and some Brianna’s poppy seed dressing.  Start with 1/3 cup of Brianna’s dressing and then add more if you feel it is too dry.  I’ve never actually measured the dressing, so that’s my best guess on how much you’d need. Last we’ll add a few simple spices.

Add ½ tsp garlic powder, 1-2 tsp of cumin and a few shakes of black pepper (or more if you like black pepper).

That’s it!