Cherry Quinoa Salad

By devogirl

Happy Herbivore

Nutritional Information - 531 Calories, 8g Fat, 95.1g Carbohydrates, 20.1g Fiber, 20.8g Sugars, 24.3g Protein

Chef's Note: I like to use red quinoa here so the color of the quinoa visually matches the cherry taste, However, regular (white) quinoa may be substituted.

Ingredients

• 1 c water
• 1/4 c dried cherries
• 1/2 c quinoa
• 4 c baby spinach
• 1 c chickpeas
• 1 cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced
• dried cherries, for garnish
• juice of 1 or more lemon wedges

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

1) Bring water to a boil.

2) Once boiling add cherries, cover, turn off heat, and let sit for 10 minutes.

3) After 10 minutes the water should take on a pink hue, some of the cherries should be floating, and all of them should look bloated.

4) Transfer to a blender and whiz until smooth (a few cherry bits are okay). Look at the markings on your blender to make sure you have 1 cup of liquid, but if not, add a little more water, if you have more than 1 cup, drain excess off.

5) Return to saucepan and add quinoa, stirring to combine

6) Bring to a boil and once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer until water has cooked off, about 15 minutes.

7) Meanwhile, toss spinach with remaining Ingredients and plate.

8) Sprinkle with quinoa (warm or chilled) and squeeze lemon juice over the top.

Make Ahead - Soak the cherries in water overnight or all day while you're at work and skip the boiling process. You can also make the quinoa ahead to save time, or make the entire salad, mixing all the components together, refrigerating and later serving chilled.