If you’re anything like me and you enjoy cooking, good food and being healthy, then you might be addicted to Quinoa too.
Quinoa, pronounced “keen wah” is sometimes referred to as a superfood because it contains a balance of all 8 essential amino acids, is gluten free and is a fantastic source of protein! Why wouldn’t you love it?!

I have recently become a huge fan of whipping up a simple Quinoa Salad from whatever ingredients I have in my fridge, adding new twists each time to keep it interesting.
I struggled the first few times I cooked Quinoa to get the appropriate level of doneness and have most recently found the perfect way to cook it and thought I would share it with you, as well as my Quinoa Salad Recipe.

Often times Quinoa recipes will tell you to measure a certain amount of Quinoa to a certain amount of water, very much like cooking rice. This method has never worked well for me. I like to cook my Quinoa like I would pasta.
Firstly, fill a pot up with water and bring to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil you can salt your water, or leave it plain. Measure out your Quinoa and dump it in. I usually use about a half cup measurement. Give it a stir, and turn down the heat to medium-high, so that it keeps boiling, but not madly.

Remember to stir your Quinoa occasionally while it is cooking so that it doesn’t all stick together. You will want to boil it for approximately 8 minutes. You will know the Quinoa is done when the small white particles attached to the grain start to fall off. You will see them floating in the hot water. Strain your Quinoa into a fine mesh sieve to drain all the water out of it, and then spread the Quinoa over a plate or bowl to cool.

At this point you’ll want to fluff the Quinoa slightly with a fork as it cools. Next you will want to gather whatever ingredients you have in your fridge to add to your salad.
Some of my favorites are: cucumber, red peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli and anything else in the fridge.
I added pea sprouts to the last batch I made, and to this batch I added chickpeas for some extra fiber.
Cut up your ingredients into bite sized pieces and place them all into a bowl for mixing.

Once your Quinoa is cool, you can add it into your chopped vegetable mixture and make up your salad dressing. Some of the most common dressings include an olive oil and lemon juice mixture, or balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I prefer to add about a ¼ cup olive oil and 1/8 cup white wine vinegar and a liberal amount of pepper. I suggest adding a good bit of olive oil first and then slowly adding the white wine vinegar to taste.

This is what your complete Quinoa Salad will look like! I also spiced mine up by adding some fresh feta cheese to it. Other additions may include some toasted nuts and seeds, chicken, beef or fish, or even some dried fruit such as apricots or sultanas.

I hope you enjoyed my post on the perfectly cooked Quinoa and how to make my favorite Quinoa Salad! As Jacque Pepin (a renowned French chef) would say, “Happy Cooking”!