The perfect, crunchy, flavorful, and fresh salad!

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I’ve been having tons of fun making some delicious and different salads lately. This one was one of the best salads I’ve ever had and it really held up as a great meal prep salad option. I love to prep my lunches for work the day before, but I hate that most leafy salads end up soggy the next day. This is made with quinoa as a base and then has lots of crunchy veggies to keep it fresh. Definitely one of my favorites!

Ingredient details:

• Quinoa – I used white quinoa for this recipe. Any kind you have on hand will work, but probably won’t look as appeal because the pop of coloful veggies will be drowned out in red/black.
• Sweet potato – I used fresh sweet potato and diced it with the peel on. Feel free to peel if you are funny about textures.
• Mukimame – In case you are not sure what I’m talking about, mukimame is the soy beans found inside a shell of edamame.
• Broccoli – I love fresh broccoli and it works so well in this dish. I just bake it for 10 minutes so it’s a little bit wilted before you add it to the salad.
• Chickpeas – I always use canned, but feel free to use your own cooked chickpeas.
• Red Cabbage – I only used 1/2 cup of cabbage in this salad. If you’re using a whole cabbage, just shave off an inch or two of the side and that should equal 1/2 cup once chopped.
• Bell pepper – I used an orange bell pepper for this salad. Any color will do, but my favorite is orange becase of the flavor and color.
• Carrot – The carrot is also just 1/2 a cup. I used one medium carrot and sliced it julienne.
• Cucumber – I used about half of a medium/large cucumber.
• Toppings: Green onions, cilantro, peanuts, sliced lime.
• Dressing:
  • Tahini or almond butter
  • Ginger
  • Tamari
  • Rice wine vinegar
  • Lime Juice
  • Maple syrup
  • Sriracha
  • Tamarind
  • Water

Recipe List

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 sweet potato

12oz mukimame

1 head of broccoli

15oz canned chickpeas

1/2 cup red cabbage

1 bell pepper

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup cucumber

For dressing:

1/4 cup tahini

2tsp ground ginger

2tbsp tamari

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp sriracha

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp tamarind

For topping:

5 green onions

1/2 cup peanuts

1 lime, cut into wedges

1 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Cook the cup of quinoa as directed and cool completely.
3. Dice sweet potato and place on baking sheet. Add mukimame to the sheet as well.
4. Bake sweet potato and mukimame for 10 minutes.
5. While the first part is baking, cut the head of broccoli into small, bite-sized florets.
6. Add broccoli to baking sheet and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Once veggies are done baking, take out of oven and cool on counter until room temperature.
8. Chop cabbage, cucumber, and bell pepper. Julienne carrots. Add to large mixing bowl along with the canned chickpeas.
9. Mix the cooled quinoa and veggies into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.
10. In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients and stir well.
11. Pour dressing into the large mixing bowl and mix well with all ingredients until everything is combined.
12. Serve and top each bowl with listed ingredients. Enjoy!

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