Recipe - Quinoa Chickpea Salad

I have a secret…salads are not my favorite go-to healthy meal. I know, I know – gasps! I believe there is too much tasty, nutrient-dense food out here to have to live on salads. 

Don’t get me wrong, salads are delicious and nutritious. I just don’t want to live on them. If I am going to eat a salad, it must be hardy and CANNOT be bland. 

What I love about this quinoa chickpea salad is that it’s a powerhouse of nutritional goodness! For instance, it contains quinoa – magical quinoa – which seems to be very mysterious and misunderstood by some people. Although quinoa is prepared like rice, it is a complete PROTEIN, not a GRAIN. 

Quinoa is a member of the Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae family, like spinach, swiss chard and beets. It contains all of the necessary amino acids to be considered a complete protein and provides heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids, which are great for brain development, are energy-boosting and help absorb fat-soluble vitamins (i.e., A, D, E, K). Quinoa is also plentiful in folate, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium, calcium, fiber and phosphorus. The phytonutrients (advantageous plant-derived chemicals) in quinoa fight inflammation and have antioxidant properties. 

This recipe also contains chickpeas, which are also another plant-based protein, but we will talk about those later. 

The quinoa chickpea salad is one of my go-to dishes. It’s quick, easy, tasty and can stretch. I use my dutch oven with this dish. If you don’t have one, a pot with a tight-fitting lid will work just fine.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 

You will need:

  • ½ Cup of Dry Red Quinoa (this will give you about 1 ½ cup cooked)
  • ½ large cucumber (or a cup of ½ inch cucumber pieces)
  • 1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes 
  • 1 cup of chickpeas or garbanzo beans (same thing)

Homemade citrus dressing

  • ¼ cup of oil
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp of Braggs Amino Acids 
  • 1/4 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp of onion powder
  • 2 ½ large lemons 

This should make a cup of dressing. However, you will probably only use about 4 oz of it for this recipe. 

Prep should take about 10 minutes once you gather the ingredients. Cooking will take about 20 minutes. Make sure you clean and cut your produce. This dish contains about 4 servings. 

Instructions

  1. Rinse and boil quinoa until tender in 2 cups of water (spring water preferred, but use what you have). This will take about 10 minutes or so.
  2. Drain and cool quinoa
  3. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Mix and serve. 

You can eat immediately or store in the fridge to eat later.

You can eat this dish by itself or scoop over some raw leafy greens with avocado on the side. Can we say YUM! 

I hope you enjoy this meal made with love! 

LB?

Nutritional value of meal:

Serving size half a cup 

  • 285 calories
  • 24.4 g Fiber
  • 29.5 g Carbs 
  • 9.4 mg Vitamin C
  • 16.5 g Fat
  • 110 g  Folate 
  • 7.3 g Protein 
  • 413 mg Potassium 
  • 74.75 mg Magnesium 

Sources: 

Pravikoff D, M. C. (2018). Quinoa . CINAHL Nutrition Guide. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.bigbrother.logan.edu:2048/nurc/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=6b295d07-56b8-417a-ba73-78c50d85c423@pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9bnVyYy1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU=#AN=T908452&db=nuc