Quinoa chickpea salad

Quinoa seeds are highly nutritious and gluten-free. I had heard a lot about it. So this time I bought a packet and was eager to cook it.

I made a chickpea quinoa salad yesterday. It's cooked just like rice white.  It's simple and quick yet delicious. Moreover, once cooked these look like small pearls.. 

Here's the procedure.

1) As a preparation work, boil around 1 cup of chickpeas with salt and turmeric. Keep the cooked chickpeas aside. You can use any cooked beans of your choice. 

2)  Take a cup a quinoa seeds. Wash it well with water. If the packet says you need to soak the seeds, then soak it for the time mentioned, before cooking. 

3) Now in a pan, add a cup of quinoa seeds along with 2 cups of water. Put it on medium high flame. Once the water starts boiling, cover the pan with lid and reduce the flame to low. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the quinoa absorbs all the water. The quinoa seeds will become soft and big once cooked. 

Set it aside in a bowl and let it cool down.

4) While the quinoa gets cooled down, let's prepare the salad dressing. In a bowl, add about 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp roasted cumin powder, 1 tsp salt , 1 tsp red cayenne powder ( or red chilli powder or chilli flakes). Pour this dressing over the cooked quinoa. Also add the boiled chickpeas and mix it well with quinoa. 

Add few chopped cherry tomatoes or normal tomatoes, finely chopped onion ( around 1 small onion). Add some salt and pepper as per taste. 

Garnish with chopped coriander.

Enjoy the healthy quinoa pearls and chickpea salad along with main course. You can also have it independently in breakfast or snacks. Eat healthy, stay happy :-) 

Cheers,

Shweta