We offer you a quick and easy healthy quinoa salad recipe. Tasty and tasty, it is suitable for everyone, but it is perfect for celiac disease sufferers because quinoa is gluten-free. This herbaceous plant that bears fruit in a panicle containing small seeds is often confused, due to its appearance, with cereals and, like these. It contains concentrations of starch, proteins, fibers, minerals, and vitamins. It is therefore excellent for daily nutrition. You can prepare this quinoa and vegetable salad as a first course or single course if you add tuna, chickpeas, or avocado to the quinoa, as we indicate in the variations to the recipe that you find below. Ideal for the warm season, this summer salad is nutritious, light and low-calorie.
If you do not know how to cook quinoa, it is a frequent doubt, especially if you are not very familiar with ethnic dishes, follow the recipe step by step and you will not go wrong! The portion of raw quinoa grows by about two and a half times in volume. So you can evaluate how much you want to cook. We have considered a portion of 50 grams per person, but it also depends on the quantity of the other ingredients that will accompany it in the dish. Let’s see how to make quinoa salad and the tastiest variations.
INGREDIENTS
- QUINOA : 200 gr
- TOMATOES : 300 gr
- CELERY : 1 stalk
- CARROT : 1
- ZUCCHINI : 2
- BOILED GREEN BEANS: 150 gr
- EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: two tablespoons
- SALT: to taste
PREPARATION
Cooking quinoa is a quick and simple procedure, first, you have to keep the seeds soak for about half an hour in cold water, drain and rinse them well to remove the saponin that covers them. And which gives quinoa a bitter taste in the mouth if not washed well.
Meanwhile, put plenty of water in a saucepan and boil it. Add salt only while boiling, and then add the quinoa, let it cook for about 20 minutes.
However, check the cooking, which is complete when the seeds start to become soft and transparent. When cooked, drain the quinoa, let it cool and it will be ready to be simply seasoned.
Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients, wash the vegetables. Cut the tomatoes, carrots, and celery into cubes. A diced brunoise cut would be the most suitable. But if you can’t, it’s fine even if you cut the vegetables into small pieces more or less the same size.
Aside, cut the courgettes into regular pieces, saute them in a pan with a drizzle of oil for 5 minutes over high heat.
Remove the ends and blanch the green beans in salted water for 20 minutes. Cut them into small pieces.
When the quinoa has cooled, put it in a large salad bowl, add the diced vegetables, sauteed courgettes, green beans, and mix.
Dress the salad with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt. Your quinoa salad is ready to taste!
VARIANTS OF QUINOA SALAD
The quinoa and vegetable salad we made together is the easiest and fastest. It’s quick to make, it’s nutritious, and it’s a perfect veggie dish for the summer when you don’t feel like cooking in the heat. Next to the ingredients, we have proposed you can combine other vegetables, such as sautéed mushrooms, boiled artichokes, roasted peppers, grilled aubergines, boiled green beans. One last tip for making a tasty quinoa salad? Give it a crunchy note by perhaps adding toasted hazelnuts or chopped walnuts: the result will be mouth-watering!
QUINOA AND TUNA SALAD
Among the most interesting variations that we can prepare is the quinoa and tuna salad: it is the most suitable if you are following a protein diet. Quinoa and chicken or quinoa and shrimp are also valid alternatives that you can also offer to children. Among the most popular recipes, especially in summer when you are looking for an easy and very quick dish to make, cold quinoa with tuna is ready simply by adding a 250 g can of natural tuna (or if you prefer, in oil, but drained) to the preparation indicated above. Finish with ground green pepper and the juice of lime.
QUINOA AND CHICKPEA SALAD
The quinoa and chickpea salad are, among the recipes with legumes, the ones most appreciated by vegans and vegetarians. It is a dish with a unique flavor that can be enjoyed all year round. You can simply add canned chickpeas to the main recipe, or add 2 fresh Tropea onions cut into thin slices, chopped parsley. And finish the dish by combining deliciously scented spices, such as turmeric, curry, or paprika, for a slightly spicy note.
QUINOA AND AVOCADO SALAD
This variant of the original recipe is undoubtedly the most ethnic and least Mediterranean. But it is still very popular and is one of the most consumed quinoa salads in summer. The quinoa and avocado salad recipe that we propose is prepared using quinoa in the same quantity as the main recipe, cooked and cooled as indicated. Then add the pulp of two avocados, a ripe mango, a thinly sliced red Tropea onion, chives, and chopped fresh coriander. Season everything with extra virgin olive oil with a very delicate and fruity taste and the juice of a lemon.
QUINOA: ORIGINS, PROPERTIES, AND BENEFITS
Quinoa is a product born between Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia. It has represented a very long and appreciated agri-food source for the indigenous peoples of the South American continent, therefore it is a food with a millenary history. Today, quinoa is back in fashion all over the world, making the areas that grow it lucky.
The quinoa plant is from the same family as spinach, it contains calcium, phosphorus, and iron. And its leaves can also be cooked and prepared with the same method and are similar in taste. But the seeds are the most used in cooking, they have a pleasant taste and a high nutritional value. Very digestible, it promotes the metabolism of insulin due to the presence of amino acids and, due to the high concentration of mineral salts, it performs a protective function against the cardiovascular system.
The fact that it contains vegetable proteins makes it ideal for those who follow a vegetarian diet, to be alternated with cereals, couscous, and rice, but often also used mixed with the same foods. Quinoa flour is also used for many preparations, such as flans, meatballs, soups, vegetable burgers, mixed salads. But also for biscuits, cakes, and spoon desserts. There are over 200 varieties of quinoa, but the most common is the real quinoa, and three types of quinoa that are distinguished by color are most easily found on the market: yellow, red, and black.