Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
It’s that time of the year when you have a lot of cold, cough and all those wonderful things. The weather here has been very strange, it is unusually warm but then you get very cold days in between, which results in that it is easier to get sick. All last week my son was sick at home and this week I am a little bit under the weather. So what do you do, you get all the best nutritious from the food you can get and that means choosing wisely what to have. Don’t get me wrong I normally try to stay on the healthy stuff but when the situation is like this I am extra careful with what I eat.
Who doesn’t love a good salad and I’m seriously obsessed with this quinoa salad, it has delicious flavors, and it’s so simple to make. Not to mention how healthy quinoa is, it is a great source of iron, fiber and magnesium. This salad is packed with some of my favorite stuff, such as sweet potatoes, avocado and pomegranate. Ingredients that are so good for you and that will keep you fuller for longer.
I used chicken in this version but I have also made it many times without, so for a vegan version you just leave out the chicken and it is just as good.
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 2 cups Vegetable Stock
- 500 gr Sweet Potatoes
- 1 Pomegranate
- 2 Avocado
- 150 gr fresh Spinach
- 2 Chicken Breast, optional
- Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 tsp Cajun Spice
- Salt & Pepper
- If using chicken breast, drizzle with olive oil and season with 1 tsp Cajun spice and salt + pepper.
- Fry on a pan for 3 minutes on each side and put in a oven 200ºC (395ºF) for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC (395ºF). Peel and chop your sweet potatoes and place on a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, 1/2 tsp Cajun spice and salt + pepper. Toss everything to coat and place in the preheated oven. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until tender.
- Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa.
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve to remove the bitter coating. In a pot, combine quinoa with vegetable stock. Boil and stir in between until almost all the stock is vaporized, then take of the heat and cover with lid. Let it stand covered for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.
- Rinse the spinach, chop op the avocado and seed the pomegranate.
- Put everything in a bowl, and add the shredded chicken, roasted sweet potatoes and quinoa. Toss everything carefully together.
- Serves 4 - 6
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Pomegranate vinegar / Apple Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Acacia Honey
- 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp Whole grain Mustard
- 1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- Salt & Pepper
- Put all the ingredients in a little jar, close and shake well.
- Taste and then use for salad.
