Rejuvenating Quinoa Spring Salad

I love spring. I love how all of a sudden Perth becomes alive again and how there is a hustle bustle on the streets again. I and my clients are now not the only lonely runners or walkers out there anymore.  Where were you hiding people during those winter months? I adore taking in all those beautiful spring colours, scents and hearing all those chirpy happy spring sounds. So I thought, to make my spring world perfect, I would add some spring tastes.

I hope you enjoy my Rejuvenating Spring Salad as much as I do. It fits perfectly in if you are working on solidifying some of those healthy habits that you are looking to create.

 

Ingredients:

• ¼-½ cup of uncooked quinoa
• 1 TBSP coconut or olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small bunch of asparagus, cut into little pieces
• 1 cup of peas
• 1/8 red cabbage, shredded
• 1/8 white cabbage, shredded
• 2 ½ cups of spinach leaves
• ½ avocado, chopped
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup spring onions
• 1/4 cup walnuts

Dressing:

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• ½ TBSP rice malt syrup
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Good quality salt and pepper to taste

 

1. Rinse the quinoa, using a fine-mesh strainer and pour into pot. Add a little bit under ½ a cup or ¾ of water or vegetable broth and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until all the quinoa has fluffed up and no water is left.

2. Meanwhile briefly sauté the garlic in the oil over medium heat, add the asparagus and sauté for another 5-10 minutes or until the asparagus is just tender, but still crisp. Add the peas and leave on heat for another few minutes.

3. Combine the cabbage, spinach leaves, chopped avocado, parsley, spring onions and walnuts in a bowl. Add the quinoa, asparagus and peas and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl whisk all the ingredients for your dressing together and pour over the salad.

 

Enjoy!