Fresh Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Dates

29 November 2015

This delicious fresh, light and tasty quinoa salad is the perfect dish to keep guests satisfied during your holiday gathering. Low GI and packed with vitamins and minerals, this salad will keep you feeling satisfied and will prevent you from wanting to overdo it on the desserts!

Serves 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

300g quinoa

1 large avocado – cut into cubes

5 dates – roughly chopped

40Og can chickpeas

1 cup crumbled feta

1 red pepper – diced

1 yellow pepper – diced

1 green pepper – diced

½ cucumber – chopped into squares

½ cup fresh dill

¼ cup almond pieces – lightly toasted

Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp. xylitol

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. minced garlic

Instructions

1. First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water for a minute or two.
2. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and 1 ½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from heat and let it rest, still covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot, drain off any excess water and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool.
3. In a large salad bowl, add cooled quinoa, chickpeas and cucumber and toss well
4. Add remaining salad ingredients to salad bowl, leaving a little of each aside for toppings. Toss thoroughly
5. Prepare dressing by adding all dressing ingredients to a blender. Blend for 3 minutes until all ingredients are well combined
6. Pour dressing over salad and toss thoroughly
7. Add toppings set aside and garnish with fresh dill.
8. Serve cool

Happy Holidays!

Yours in Health Always,

Cara-Lisa

@caralishious

xoxo