I love salads. And I can eat a whole heck of a lot of salad too! Normally I would say this isn’t a big deal, but when I’m trying to pack a salad to bring to work for lunch it can become a problem…I never have a container big enough for all the salad I want to eat! In order to make my salad smaller but still satisfying I started adding quinoa to the mix. Quinoa is technically a seed but it’s used as a grain. It’s full of vitamins, minerals and yes, protein. Quinoa has all of the essential amino acids and is therefore considered a “complete protein”. The more I learn about protein, the more I realize it doesn’t matter if a food has all the amino acids or not. As long as you eat a wide enough variety of plant-based foods you’ll get all of the amino acids you need. With that said, quinoa is delicious and satisfying so I enjoy it and consider it a bonus that it’s got all the essential amino acids.
Oil-Free Quinoa Garden Salad
Raw crunchy veggies are paired with tahini smothered quinoa for a quick and satisfying salad.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 cup water or vegetable broth
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/2 english cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 avocado, cubed
- 6 romaine lettuce leaves, sliced into thin strips
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or other gluten-free soy sauce substitute)
- sriracha, to taste
Instructions:
- Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy.
- Stir the tahini, Braggs and sriracha into the cooked quinoa.
- Add the chopped veggies and mix the salad well.
- Enjoy right away or let chill in the fridge.
xoxo Erin
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