Raw Vegetable and Quinoa Salad

Salad anyone?  Well, today it is good ol’ Quinoa ! Man, I love this stuff. Okay, I don’t mean ‘stuff’ in a bad way, I just love quinoa.  The other day I brought out a fair-sized bowl (actually quite large), and loaded it up with a few cups of cooked quinoa, and then topped it up with mountains of raw vegetables and fresh herbs.  I then dug a tablespoon into this mountain of delicious vegetables and sunk the spoon down into the quinoa.  I then tossed and mixed this amazingly delicious concoction all together, and I am not going to lie, I was VERY tempted to take that spoon and dump a huge mouthful of all that deliciousness into my mouth….but I held myself back, took a deep breath, collected my thoughts, counted backwards from ten…. and dished some up on a plate for myself.

When the hubby came home, he opened the fridge and saw this massive bowl of quinoa salad, and by the look on his face I think he thought it would be his food for the week…but fear not, I am not that cruel…although the thought did enter my brain….The salad did not last 24 hours, thanks to my continual snacking on it every time I opened the fridge door !  And man…it was so good, it was like I just could not get enough.  🙂 Haha Quinoa obsession !!!

For me, this salad is just the best.  It is totally versatile.  Use whatever veggies float your boat, and if you decide to have corn, do yourself a favour, don’t cook it, have it raw, enjoy that crunch…..it is Cra-zy good !!!

The recipe below is enough for 2 people, but feel free to double up or quadruple the recipe as I did.

Raw Vegetable and Quinoa Salad

Preparation time:  20 minutes

Cooking time:  15 minutes

Total time:  35 minutes

Makes for 2 people

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 cup black-eyed peas, cooked and roasted with salt, pepper and origanum

1 corn on the cob, kernels cut off

20/30 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 – 1/2 cup thinly shredded purple baby chinese cabbage

3 sliced spring onions, green parts as well

1/2 large red pepper, sliced or diced

1/2 large yellow pepper, sliced or diced

2/3 jalapeno’s, sliced finely

60 grams sugar snap peas, uncooked and chopped finely

a handful of herbs, I used mint and basil leaves and chopped chives.

Instructions:

Quinoa – cook as per packet instructions.

Black Eyed Peas – cook as per packet instructions, then place on a baking tray, with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and dried origanum.  Allow to roast in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15/20 minutes or until crispy.

Once all the veggies are sliced and prepared.  Place in a dish and serve.

Enjoy 🙂

NB*  This can be a salad to have on the side or as a main meal.