Quinoa and Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
1 ½ cup cooked red quinoa
1 cup cooked chickpeas
½ cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup of carrots (thinly sliced)
¼ cup vegetarian cheddar cheese (cubed)
½ cup tomatoes (chopped)
1 medium onion (diced)
2 tbsp olive oil
Apple cider vinegar to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
Pinch of crushed red peppers
Preparation
Cook the quinoa. Follow package directions. Wash before cooking, unless you’re using pre-washed quinoa. The yield when cooked is roughly 3 times the raw measurement. Set aside until cool.
Cook the chickpeas. If using dried chickpeas and you don’t have a pressure cooker, then soak them overnight in a bowl of salted water. Thoroughly wash and then cook in lightly salted water with black pepper to taste on low heat for about 90 minutes. Set aside until cool.
Stir fry mushrooms and carrots. Heat up 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Throw in carrots and mushrooms and sauté for about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and crushed red peppers. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove promptly from the skillet to prevent over-cooking, and set aside to cool.
Chop tomatoes, onion and cheese and set aside.
Assemble the salad. When all cooked ingredients are cool, put them all together in a large bowl. Add some more olive oil, and some apple cider vinegar to taste and mix well.
Serve at room temperature or chilled. Enjoy!
