Recipe: Creamy Quinoa & Vegie Salad

I’m lucky enough to have a full kitchen at work, so I often have a filling hot meal for my lunch. However when I’m traveling for work, life isn’t so easy.  I’ve been experimenting, trying to come up with a meal that can be made on the road, and is also tasty and filling.  The following is makes a decent amount – I normally get 4 good servings out of it.  Serve with some plain greek yogurt to the side.  This version uses hummus, but if you want to experiment, try some other low-kj dips instead!

I often make this in motels that just have a microwave – takes about 30mins to cook the quinoa plus an extra 5mins or so once the carrots have been added, depending on the microwave settings.  To keep it fresh, I normally individually portion out the greek yogurt into small takeaway containers (you can buy them from $2 shops), and mix just before eating.

 

Nutrition Info

Average serving with 50g of greek yogurt is 1380kj.  53g carbs, 5g fat, 17g protein, 974mg sodium, 16g fiber.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • 170g dry quinoa (approx 1 cup)
  • 250g broccoli (approx 1 bunch)
  • 300g cauliflower (approx 1/2 bunch)
  • 300g carrots (approx 4-5)
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 2 tsp Nando’s hot peri peri sauce
  • 2 leaves fresh mint, shredded
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 100g hummus (Coles “Light Hummus Dip”)
  • greek yogurt to serve (approx 50g per serve) (Chobani “Plain Non-fat Greek Yogurt”)

Method

  • Mix the vegetable stock and water, and bring to a boil.
  • Add in the quinoa and boil for about 12 mins.
  • Meanwhile, steam the broccoli & cauliflower in the microwave, dump in ice water and set aside.
  • Add the carrots to the quinoa and boil for a further 7 mins.
  • Take off the stove and allow to cool.
  • Mix the garlic, Nando’s sauce, mint, vinegar and hummus through.
  • Fold vegetables and mint through, serve with yogurt to the side.