Quinoa Salad with Veggies

Quinoa is such a versatile grain.  With 8g of protein per cup, 20% of your daily fibre, and a bunch of B6, Magnesium and Iron, it is super healthy.  Oh, and delicious!  It will go with anything - from quinoa pancakes to this type of fantastic salad.

Cooking quinoa is really simple.  The ratio is 1:2, quinoa to water.  Boil the water, add the quinoa, give it a stir, bring to a boil again, give it a stir, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed (about 10 - 12 minutes). Fluff it up with a fork and it's done.

For this salad, I mixed some raw and some slightly cooked/blanched veggies.  I first mixed in some ribboned spinach while the quinoa was warm to wilt it.  I blanched some asparagus tips, and the rest of the ingredients were added raw.

I included: diced red pepper; halved grape tomatoes; chopped spring onion; chopped cilantro; grated garlic; chopped avocado; a squeeze of lime juice; and some salt and pepper.  Chill for about an hour.

Really, anything can potentially go in this salad.  Take a look in your fridge and use up some odds and ends of veggies and/or sauces.  Easy and chock-a-block full of nutrition.  (p.s.  I just looked up the term chock-a-block... very interesting origin!)