Quinoa is a delicious low fat superfood grain. It's my go-to ingredient when I want to beef up a salad recipe, as Quinoa provides all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. It's also gluten-free. I love this salad recipe because it feels like eating a rainbow, and its so fresh and tasty. I'm starting to think about what I'll be bringing to this years Christmas celebrations and I think this would make a great side dish. It's vegetarian, and seasonal.
It could also be adjusted to suit vegans by simply replacing the cheese with tofu. I'd like to have a completely vegetarian Christmas this year so if anyone else has some great festive veggie recipes they'd like to share, please do so in the comments.
Ingredients
- 2 large handfuls of spinach
- 3/4 cup of purple cabbage, chopped finely
- 1 cup white quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/2 a cup of firm salted ricotta, cubed (replace with firm tofu if vegan) a large handful of parsley
- 1 teaspoon za'atar seasoning
- Dressing of your choice, I used a simple balsamic/lemon juice/olive oil mix Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- First chop your cabbage, and rinse the quinoa for about 2 minutes in a sieve under cold water.
- Add the cabbage, quinoa and 1 1/2 cups water (you don't need a 2:1 water ratio for quinoa) to a medium saucepan and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until grains are just tender and liquid is absorbed. Cooking the cabbage with the quinoa gives it a slightly purple colour.
- Meanwhile combine the other ingredients into a large salad bowl.
- When the quinoa cabbage mix is ready, remove from the heat and leave covered, for 10 minutes.
- Add 1 tsp on za'atar and then fluff it with fork. Add to the salad bowl and toss together.
- Add a dressing of your choice, I used a balsamic/lemon juice/ olive oil dressing which was absolutely delicious, and devour.
Serves 1-2
