Smoky Quinoa Chickpea Salad – This salad has become my new lunchtime favorite.  I came across this hand typed recipe on Facebook. It sounded so good I had to give it a try – wow is all I can say. It’s such a healthy, flavorful salad and it has a really interesting smoky flavor thanks to the smoked Spanish paprika. Everyone who’s tried it has asked me for the recipe. If you’re not familiar with quinoa, it’s quite a fantastic food or superfood to be more precise.  Quinoa is the seed of a plant belonging to the same family as other favored super-veggies including spinach, swiss chard, and beets. It’s one of the most nutritionally dense foods available, provides all nine essential amino acids and has twice the fiber of most other grains. It has a mild flavor so it can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. As per usual, I rarely leave a recipe unmodified from the original and this recipe is no different; I’ve added a few little extras. Sadly, I don’t know where this recipe originated so if anyone knows who to credit please let me know.

Smoky Quinoa Chickpea Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cucumber, chopped unpeeled
• 1 pint cherry or baby tomatoes, halved
• 4-5 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup of parsley, chopped
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp grainy mustard
• 2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional:  I like to lay it on a bed of salad greens or kale. I’ve also added minced green olives and cauliflower which I thought made nice additions to the salad.

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa. Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 12-15 minutes. Take off heat and let sit covered in saucepan.
2. Combine chickpeas, cucumber, parsley, onions, and half the feta in a large bowl. Toss until well mixed.
3. Gently toss with cooled quinoa.
4. Wisk vinegar, honey, oil, grainy mustard and olive oil together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the combined salad ingredients.
5. Add tomatoes, and gently toss, being careful not to over mix.
6. Top with feta and serve.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  Check out some of my other recipes including: Best salad ever, No bake energy balls,  the best chicken soup you’ll ever eat, Bailey’s dipped toasted marshmallows, zucchini quinoa patties, perfect chocolate chip cookies, marinated feta cheese, mediterranean hummus.

Thanks for reading!

~ Jamey