Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Looking for an easy lunch that does not involve lettuce? It seems like all the “healthy” lunches require some leafy green, and while I do love my spinach, they can get old. So in an effort to avoid another monochromatic, leafy green lunch- I mixed up a chickpea quinoa salad. Complete with protein, veggies, and plenty of flavor that will help you forget that healthy lunches require lettuce.

Serves: 4                                    Prep Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

·        2 Cups of Quinoa

·        4 Cups of Water or Broth I like using chicken bone broth here for flavor and protein, but vegetable broth or even water work as well.

·        2 Corn on the cob

·        2 Can of Chickpeas

·        1 Green Bell Pepper

·        1/2 Red Onion

·        1 Avocado

·        Black Pepper to taste

Dressing

·        2 Lemons (Juice)

·        Garlic or Regular Olive Oil

·        Plain Parsley (chopped for garnish and dressing)

Recipe

1.     Cook Quinoa as directed using the broth or water. Allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the meal

2.     In a separate pot, boil corn on the cob (shucked) for 5-8 minutes until soft but crunchy. Drain and cool corn until it is a manageable temperature. Cut kernels off the cob and place to the side.

3.     Chop green pepper and onion into small pieces.

4.     Drain Chickpeas and rinse

5.     In a large bowl mix together cooked quinoa, corn, green pepper, onion, and chickpeas until well combined.

6.    Cut Avocado in half and cut small bite sized pieces. Here I like the smaller the better- you get them more dispersed throughout the salad and maximize the avocado in every bite!

7.     In a separate bowl, add chopped parsley with a generous amount of olive oil (4+ tablespoons.

8.     Juice the lemons and whisk together lemon juice, olive oil/parsley, and black pepper.

9. Once well combined, drizzle over the quinoa salad while stirring to coat the salad evenly.

10. Refrigerate until the mixture is one cool temperature throughout. Serve & Enjoy!

Tips:

I like to add the avocado just before adding the dressing. You don’t want the avocado to sit too long without a coating of lemon juice & olive oil- both of which help prevent the browning. The quicker you can get that on the avocado the more likely it is to say green!

I think the fun of salads and something like this in general is the opportunity to make it your own. This is a framework for an easy, cold salad that is a great lunch, snack, or side. I recommend playing with your favorite vegetables adding them in and taking out whatever of this recipe you don’t like!