organic tricolor Royal quinoa

This is the second salad we served during our special dinner and one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s a nice companion on any BBQ meat or you can even eat by itself as a snack or light dinner.

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2-3 garlic cloves
250g quinoa
one bunch asparagus
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste
250g halved grape tomatoes
250g sugar snap peas
200g crumbled feta cheese
2tbsp each fresh chopped basil and mint

In a saucepan, bring broth and garlic to a boil. Add quinoa, cover and reduce heat to low and cook for approx. 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork into a large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, toss asparagus with 1tbsp of olive oil. Place on greased grill over high heat turning occasionally, for about 6 minutes or until slightly charred and tender crisp. Remove to cutting board and chop in large pieces and then add quinoa. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over quinoa and stir well to coat. Add tomatoes, sugar snap peas, feta, basil and mint and stir to combine well.

Family dinner-2

Organic tricolor Royal quinoa salad (chefdoru.com)
Crunchy veggie & pineapple quinoa salad with basil (dinneranddirtydishes.com)
Quinoa: The ancient grain of deliciousness (awellwornkitchen.wordpress.com)
Greek Quinoa Salad (cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com)
Southwestern Quinoa Salad (abbykurth.wordpress.com)
Asparagus & Feta Quinoa Salad (hiphostessblog.com)
Quinoa & Beet Salad (breastcanceryogablog.com)
Quinoa Salad (georgiegirltalks.ca)
My Fav Quinoa Salad (thenewmrshamilton.wordpress.com)

Very easy to make and extremely tasty, the quinoa salad is one of my lovely wife favorite. This time I used organic tricolor Royal quinoa, mixed greens, some peppers (use any color you want), avocado, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic&hot pepper infused olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. I think the most important ingredients in a salad are the oil and the vinegar. You have to use a good balsamic vinaigrette and a quality virgin oil. I know, they are expensive, but the difference they make in a salad is huge.