With more and more people turning towards health food, healthy food is becoming increasingly popular. Quinoa is a healthy whole grain rich in B Vitamins and dietary fiber.

Eating whole grains is recommended since it provides your body with essential energy along with important nutrients and dietary fiber. Whole grains such as quinoa are essential for the healthy functioning of the heart and the digestive system. Quinoa will keep you full and satiated for a longer time preventing unhealthy snacking in between meals.

This recipe incorporates veggies along with quinoa and hence is rich in vitamins and other nutrients. The dressing used to flavor this salad is made of natural flavors and does not use high fat diary such as cream or mayonnaise and hence is low in calories. This article discusses how to make healthy quinoa salad at home. Serve this salad as a variation to the usual salads and see your family enjoy the rich textures and delicious flavors.

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa
3 cups water
Salt to taste
1 cup peas
½ cup celery
2 carrots peeled and sliced thinly
½ cup bell peppers sliced thinly
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber diced thinly
1/4th cup fresh cilantro chopped
1/4th cup fresh basil chopped
½ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1 green onion finely chopped
3 spoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 spoons paprika powder
1 spoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup toasted almonds or toasted walnuts

Method

To make this quinoa salad, first prepare the quinoa. For this, take soak quinoa grains in a large vessel in water for half hour before you begin cooking it. After half hour, wash the quinoa thoroughly in water, rinse and drain the excess water.  Take water in a large vessel and bring to a boil.

Once the water begins to boil, add the washed quinoa grains and let it cook for 10-15 minutes in the boiling water. Add a pinch of salt to the water and cover the cooking vessel with a lid. Ensure you cook the quinoa on low flame so that the grains remain separate. Keep stirring the quinoa often so that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel.  Once the quinoa is cooked, remove from flame cover and keep aside.

Next prepare the veggies for the salad. For this, lightly steam the peas and carrots before using them in the salad. Cucumbers, tomatoes, celery and bell peppers can be used raw. To make the dressing for the salad, take olive oil in a bowl. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and the chopped green onions. Add salt, freshly ground black pepper, paprika powder and the minced garlic. Whisk all the ingredients very well to form a homogenous mix.

To assemble the salad, take the cooked quinoa in a large bowl. Then add the chopped carrots and peas and mix well. Add the raw tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers and mix well again. Add the chopped fresh cilantro and chopped fresh basil. Mix the chopped herbs well with the remaining ingredients.

Finally pour the salad dressing liberally all over the quinoa and the veggies. Mix the salad dressing very well the other ingredients so that the veggies and the quinoa grains get coated with the dressing. Garnish the quinoa salad with chopped toasted almonds or walnuts and serve chilled. You can also add some fruits such as fresh oranges, peaches or grapes to this salad to give it a sweet and fresh flavor.

Photo Credit: Closetcooking.com