Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette

By GuidingVegan

Ingredients

• For the salad you'll need:
• 1 1 1 cup organic quinoa
• Sea salt
• 2 2 2 good handfuls of organic baby spinach leaves, washed, drained
• 1 1 1 large ripe pear, washed, stemmed and cored, cut into pieces
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup chilled chick peas, rinsed, drained
• 2 2 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• to salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• to A handful of pecans, pan toasted and salted to taste
• For the Maple Vinaigrette Dressing:
• 4 4 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 3 3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar
• 2 2 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• Whisk together.
• to to to spinach, pear, chick peas, and chopped parsley to the quinoa and fluff. Pour on the vinaigrette and toss gently to coat. Season to taste with sea salt and ground pepper.
• Just before serving, add the toasted pecans and lightly combine.
• Makes four main course servings, six side dish servings.
• to folks like a dab of Dijon mustard in their vinaigrette- I don't, especially lately. But if you love a mustard-y flavor spike, add a teaspoon of Dijon to the salad dressing. Just don't make it too strong- it may overpower the pears.
• I prefer salads lightly dressed. But if you prefer more dressing, or find that your quinoa and spinach needs a bit more dressing, double the vinaigrette recipe.
• Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/10/quinoa-salad-with-pears-and-baby.html#ixzz13VdrvA3p

Preparation

Step 1

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