Easy Summer Quinoa and Chickpea Salad. Vegan. GF.
Hi everybody! It’s me the elusive foodie, runner (not running currently), absentee blogger! I’m here! Isn’t summer supposed to be oh-so-relaxing? Yeah. It isn’t. At least for me. In my defense, this post was to live yesterday but my MacBook hated my SD card with the images yesterday. Had to run to Target to get a card reader to export my images of food long gone (yep, this dish is that good) so it worked. Heres the post. Phew!
I know I’m tardy but LIFE IS CRAZY! Seriously within the next month I think we’re home for only a few days. Not all of us are gone thankfully so my house and dogs are taken care of but I hate living out of suitcase but I love to explore so we do all the things and embrace with grateful hearts.
So this sweet little recipe. Perfect with leftover quinoa. I’ve been crazily bumping up protein in my diet lately thanks to all of my weightlifting efforts at the gym. Uses tons of fresh ingredients from your garden or the farmer’s market so it’s super cost effective. Great for leftovers, lunches, BBQ’s, get-togethers etc. Keeps perfectly in the fridge for a week. My tip is to keep the vinaigrette separate and dress prior to serving. That way veggies stay crisp and lovely! Okay, tons of cooking to do before we leave so I need to get my boo-TAY moving.
1.5 cups of dry quinoa (white or multi-colored)
1 – 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium cucumber or 2 mini cucumbers, sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup of olive oil
4 tbl of lemon juice
Zest from one lemon
Pinch salt
Freshly cracked pepper
Method:
Cook your quinoa according to package instructions OR cook in your Instant Pot. 1 cup of dry quinoa to 1 cup of water, pinch of salt and cook for 2 minutes (sealed vent) on manual setting. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then open the lid and fluff with a fork.
While the quinoa cooks, add your ingredients from chickpeas through parsley. Toss. Then add your quinoa, once cooked and toss. To make the vinaigrette: I add the ingredients into a small container with a lid. Shake vigorously. Add to the salad and toss to coat. If you aren’t serving immediately, I store the vinaigrette separately and toss prior to serving. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
So let me give you a quick life update. You all know I decided to take June off from running due to the excessive knee swelling I have been experiencing since surgery 13 months ago. I found a new ortho/pain management doc who does stem cell injections and wanted to rest my knee prior to meeting him. Well I had my appointment last Friday and was pleased to hear that I was a candidate for PRP injections however he wanted to first drain the fluid and try a steroid shot to see if that would be beneficial initially. PRP injections are experimental and not covered by insurance – so this was a viable first option.
I have always been fearful of this procedure for some reason and it didn’t disappoint. Thankfully my older daughter was with me so I could focus on her humor and less on the pain. He did remove over 22 cc’s of fluid and was able to fill all my knee joint spaces with the steroid. I sat up and broke down in tears because I haven’t seen my knees match in size in what seems to be forever. The flexibility was awesome. I was able to completely bend my knee. No pain. It was heavenly. He wants me to continue my hiatus until the end of the month regarding running. Lifting and cycling are all good. 5 days and no swelling. Fingers are crossed. Pics below are post procedure.
Sunday: 45 minutes weightlifting/core/ 30m elliptical
Monday: 40 minutes all over body weight lifting/30 minutes elliptical
Tuesday: 60 minutes elliptical/30 m legs and core weight lifting
So far this month I’ve lost 5 lbs of fat.
That’s a wrap kids. Chat with you all soon!
— Knead to Cook
