Quinoa Chickpea Spinach Salad Recipe

Easy healthy vegan meal in a bowl. Delicious any time, any way

Quinoa Chickpea Spinach Salad: This is my version of a quinoa salad posted by Gourmet Food At Work, and also variations from G+ buddy Leon Shaner. Thanks for the inspiration, guys!

As usual, I tweaked and made so many changes that I ended up with a new recipe. I cooked the quinoa with vegetable broth, I left out wild rice, I added cilantro, I used chickpeas only, all spinach, no kale - etc etc!

Eat this delicious meal in a bowl warm, room temperature or chilled. It's delicious any time, any way. My testers loved it.

Total Prep & Cook Time: 30 Min

4 servings

Nutrition Data Per 338g Serving (2 -3 cups): 414 cal, fat cal 108, 62g carb, 12g fat, 274mg sodium, 13g fiber, 17g protein, 6g sugars, low Cholesterol, good source Vit A, C, K, Folate, Manganese. Estimated glycemic load 28

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry quinoa cooked (170g)
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth (352g)
• 2 - 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 cans, drained and rinsed)(412g)
• 4 cups washed and chopped spinach leaves, or 10 oz clamshell baby spinach (284g)
• 1 cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped (from a small bunch)(16g)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (6g)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (28g)
• 1/4 cup lime or lemon juice (2 limes)(88g)
• Black pepper and salt to taste (you might not need salt if broth and chickpeas are salted

Directions

1. Rinse quinoa and cook in 1.5 cups vegetable broth. Set aside.
2. Drain and rinse canned chickpeas, or measure out 2 or 3 cups home cooked chickpeas. Set aside.
3. Rinse and drain spinach, remove leaves from stems, and chop. If using baby spinach, leave unchopped. Set aside in a colander to continue draining.
4. Heat oil on low in a large pan
5. Mince garlic, add to pan, heat until soft but now browned
6. Add spinach leaves and stir just until wilted
7. Combine quinoa and chickpeas
8. Fold in spinach & garlic along with chopped cilantro
9. Rinse the pan with lime juice, add with optional salt and pepper to the quinoa and chickpeas
10. If the salad seems too dry, mix in a little more oil and lime juice
11. Serve topped with avocado chunks or slices

Recipe Tips:

If you have just cooked the chickpeas and quinoa, then you can add the spinach leaves directly, then serve this as a warm salad.

Or you can chill the quinoa and chickpeas, mix in the wilted spinach and serve at room temperature.

Or you can then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours and serve it cold.