Monday, March 15, 2010

Meatless Monday: Chickpea And Quinoa Salad With Lemon-Tahini Dressing


Happy Meatless Monday!  Today, I thought I'd share with you a simple salad recipe for Chickpea And Quinoa Salad With Lemon-Tahini Dressing that's healthy, delicious and easy to throw together on the fly.  There are plenty of reasons to load your diet up with chickpeas, including their high fiber content and virtually fat-free source of protein.  Likewise, quinoa, an ancient grain with a nutty taste, is also high in fiber and protein.

What else?  To help boost the health properties of the dressing, I've added tumeric, the superstar of the spice world, which is a potent anti-inflammatory that has been shown to decrease the risk for certain types of cancer.  The salad is essentially a composed salad with an array of fresh vegetables and fruit, including tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, red bell pepper and avocado.  The final ingredient is a light sprinkling of fresh dill (one of my favorite herbs in the whole world).  So give it a try - this recipe makes for a delicious complete lunch!

Chickpea And Quinoa Salad With Lemon-Tahini Dressing
Serves 4 people
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup quinoa, cooked
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
8 small radishes, halved
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

lemon-tahini dressing:
2 tbsp sesame tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
salt & pepper 

Directions
To make the lemon-tahini dressing, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, tumeric and cumin in a bowl.  Add water as needed to thin to a nice consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

To make the salad, put 1/4 of quinoa in the center of each bowl.  Arrange the vegetables around the quinoa, dividing them evenly and grouping each kind each together to to make a composed salad.  Pile 1/4 cup of chickpeas in the center of the bowl.  Drizzle with the dressing and top with the dill and a little fresh cracked pepper.  Enjoy

Source For Ingredients
organic radishes from Sage Mountain Farm (Hollywood Farmers Market)

organic tomatoes, organic cucumber, organic avocado, organic lemon, organic bell pepper from Hollywood Farmers Market

organic canned chickpeas (Eden Organics), organic cumin, organic quinoa, organic tumeric and organic sesame tahini from Whole Foods

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