So here's a simple, yet tasty, autumnal-ish salad. Featuring lots of whole grains, protein, healthy fats, and whatnot, it's rather healthy and you can feel righteous while you eat it (if that's your thing).
This salad is delicious as written, but I can see that it would also make a very good base for all sorts of variations, depending on what's in the pantry and fridge. For example, I think a combination of dried cranberries, hazelnuts, and chopped kale could be quite tasty!
Quinoa Apple Salad
Yield: 2Ingredients
- 4 oz cooked quinoa, cooled
- 2 oz baby spinach, chopped
- 1 oz walnuts, chopped
- 1 oz dried tart cherries, chopped
- 3 oz cored, chopped Granny Smith apple
- ½ oz shallot, minced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp runny apple blossom honey [or your favorite variety]
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine cooked quinoa, spinach, walnuts, cherries, apple, and shallot in a large serving bowl.
- Whisk together oil, vinegar, and honey in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour dressing mixture over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Adjust seasoning as needed.
- Best if allowed to rest for 20 minutes before serving. (If refrigerating, allow to come to room temperature before serving.)
While this makes a lovely light vegetarian lunch all on its own, feel free to add crumbled feta cheese (and/or sliced grilled chicken breast if you do meat) to make it more filling for larger appetites. One serving on its own at lunch kept me going until supper, but then I found I did need to add a little chicken to keep me going through the evening shift.
For anyone new to my blog, the Improv Cooking Challenge is a monthly blog hop where two ingredients are assigned, participants must make a new-to-their-blog recipe using both ingredients, and publish a blog post about it on the second Thursday of the month. If you think that sounds like fun, click on the Improv Cooking Challenge logo below.