This Rainbow Quinoa Salad is one of my favourite salads. It is packed with lots of flavours, protein and fiber. This salad id vegan and gluten free, so everyone can enjoy this. Also it is packed with veggies which makes it great for summer. Also I have added some chopped strawberries which adds extra fiber, flavour and sweet taste to the salad. This salad is perfect to bring to any summer pool or bbq party. You can totally customise this salad. Add what you like and leave what you don’t.
The core ingredient of this rainbow salad is Quinoa, which is a complete plant based protein. Quinoa has the texture of a grain but is actually a seed. It is a good source of protein and complex carb for people who are following vegan diet and also who are gluten-intolerant. Along with quinoa, I have used all different veggies like bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, purple cabbage and used strawberry, which gives nice flavour to the whole salad. Here I have chopped all the veggies and strawberry quite small as quinoa is small in size.
I call this salad as rainbow quinoa salad as it has all the colours from rainbow. You can prepare this rainbow quinoa salad ahead of time and this will stay good in your refrigerator for 2-3 days. The salad gets better as it sits in the fridge, because the quinoa and absorb all the flavours. This rainbow quinoa salad is good for kid lunch box, also for office lunch box. You can have this rainbow salad for your brunch, lunch, your evening snack or dinner.
RAINBOW QUINOA SALAD RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
½ Cup uncooked quinoa
1 Cup shredded purple cabbage
1 Medium cucumber, chopped
1 Cup tomato, chopped
½ Cup bell pepper, chopped
1 Cup strawberry, chopped
Dressing
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoon lime or lemon juice
2 Teaspoons liquid sweetener
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1 First rinse the quinoa under running water nicely. Bring 1 cup of water to boil in a medium sauce pan, then add rinsed quinoa.
STEP 2 Bring it to simmer and then cover it with a lid and cook quinoa for 15-20 minutes. Once cooked, turn off the stove and let it sit for 5 minutes.
STEP 3 While quinoa is cooking, we can prepare all our veggies. Using box grated, shred purple cabbage, chop strawberry, cucumber, tomato and bell pepper.
STEP 4 To prepare dressing, whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
STEP 5 To prepare salad, in a large bowl, add cooked quinoa along with all the chopped veggies and strawberry.
STEP 6 Pour over the dressing, mix it all together and your rainbow quinoa salad is ready to enjoy.