Tri Color Quinoa Salad with Veggies, Avocado, Cranberries & Almonds.

We eat with our eyes first.  Boy, this recipe looks fabulous to me!  As we begin our vacation & enjoy family time, today kicks off our first guest blogger.  Lauren Kelly is a dear friend of mine that I met through Facebook.  She always has the most nutritious, healthy and fabulous tasting food.  Tonight she is sharing the quinessential Meatless Monday dish. Seriously, as I’m typing this, I’m wiping drool from my mouth!  Even your most fierce carnivore will succumbed to this tasty dish.

• 2 Tbs. cranberries
• 1 cup tricolor quinoa, rinsed well
• Kosher salt
• 1/2  lemon
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 medium firm-ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 can (BPA FREE) artichokes, rinsed, drained well and sliced
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped toasted almonds
• 1 medium scallion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups water, the quinoa, and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (The outer germ rings of the grain will remain chewy and white. Some germ rings may separate from the grain and will look like white squiggles.) Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn it out onto a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.
2. In a pan, place 1 Tbs. oil with carrots, artichokes, tomatoes and spinach.  Saute’ until vegetables soften. Add sliced almonds for  1 minute and blend until well mixed.  Remove from heat.
3. Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then squeeze 1 Tbs. juice. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, basil, cumin, paprika, and 1/4 tsp. salt. In a large bowl, toss the vinaigrette with the quinoa, cranberries, avocado, scallions, and almonds. Add the vegetable mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 4.

Click through to Lauren Kelly Nutritionist’s page:
http://laurenkellynutrition.com/2012/05/02/tri-color-quinoa-salad-with-veggies-avocado-cranberries-and-almonds/

You can also like her on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/LaurenKellyCertifiedNutritionist

Thanks Lauren for being my awesome guest blogger!  oxoxo ~ Robin

 

— Knead to Cook