Cornucopia Quinoa Salad MELISSA HORNUNG

Do you, like many, have a hard time wrapping your brain around Quinoa let alone your taste buds? Well this salad is sure to make you a fan! 

Starting with a plethora of crispy vegetables like cucumber, celery and spring onion, there is a whole days supply of goodness, including also almonds, chick peas and cranberries before you even get to the healthiest part, Quinoa! 

Because Quinoa is a seed, it’s not even a grain and it’s naturally gluten free. Just 1 cup of Quinoa provides 8 grams of protein,  5 grams of fiber, 58% Manganes of the daily Magnesium requirement, 30% your Phosphorus along with large amounts of Folate, Copper and Iron too! No wonder it’s one of nature’s super foods and keeps you feeling full while it ballences blood sugar. Just a whole bunch of reasons why you should start liking Quinoa if you aren’t already a fan. 

The greatest thing about this salad is not only how delicious and satisfying it is, you can make it ahead and store it in the fridge for a week or serve it right away.   

Also, all of the ingredients that i use are either home grown, localy Farm Fresh or otherwise organic. 

What you need:

1 cup Organic red or mixed Quinoa 

2 cups of organic chicken or bone broth

Dried cranberries (about 1/2 cup)

Spring onion chopped (about 4, also known as scallions)

Sliced Almonds sautéed and browned in butter and or olive oil

Chicken peas 

Celery chopped including the leaves 

Cucumber chopped fine eliminate the seeds

Spinach chopped fine 

For dressing: 

Olive Oil (about 1/3 c)

Crushed and chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)

Salt and Pepper

Squeeze of half or whole lemon 🍋 (depending on taste)

If you follow me at all, You might have noticed that I don’t much measure things out all of the time. Use your own discretion of how much you are going to want to serve or save and go from there. It’s just how I cook, I throw things together. So, that said, I start this salad buy cooking my quinoa (follow the directions on the package)  letting it simmer then chill. Then chop all of the vegetables, sauté the almonds, drain and rinse the chick peas. Then, combine all other ingredients in a large salad bowl, add quinoa and prepare the following dressing.  

Combine all above ingredients for dressing and stir together. Pour over the salad mixture and combine. Either serve immediately in small salad bowls or put in a container to save for later or eat it throughout the week. Stays fresh for about a week.