Greek Chickpea & Quinoa Salad

Another salad is born!

 Over the last week or so we've moved from a Thai inspired Cucumber Salad + Peanut Citrus Dressing to an Italian inspired Heirloom Tomato and Endive Salad + Bagna Cauda to this Greek inspired salad of quinoa and chickpeas. I have been a happy girl eating and testing each one of them. This one is as delicious as the last and the one before that. Filled with protein packed quinoa and chickpeas tossed with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and onions, and drizzled with simple lemon juice. It's a sensational salad that will leave you feeling satisfied and great, inside and out. And don't forget those pepperoncini, they are an exceptional accompaniment to the flavors of this dish! This is a great salad for to-go lunches, pot lucks, picnics or any social occasion, as well of course as eating it anytime of day in your own private sanctuary. Dig in and be happy. :)

Greek Chickpea & Quinoa Salad

Ingredients (serves 4 - 6)

• 1 cup dried quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups water (anywhere in between)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half (diced red bell pepper would work here too)
• 1 cup English cucumber, diced
• 2/3 cup red onion or shallots, diced 
• 1 jar (7oz) kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half (drained)
• 1/4 cup loosely packed parsley, chopped (dill, mint or oregano would be great too)
• mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
• juice of 1 large lemon
• Greek pepperoncini, to serve
• lemon slices, to serve (optional)
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
• arugula (optional)

In a medium size pot, add the water, quinoa and garlic powder and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

While quinoa is cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients.

Once quinoa is ready, add in the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and parsley. Mix well. Season with salt, fresh cracked pepper and the juice of your 1 large lemon.

Serve on a bed of arugula or as is. Tastes great with some pepperoncini and a little extra lemon juice on top. Add extra virgin olive oil if you wish. This dish can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Optional dressing: You may like to use this Garlic Dressing from a previous recipe. I would suggest doubling it for use here. Add/subtract any ingredients to suit your taste.

I omitted the usual feta cheese in this recipe because I personally don't need it and haven't tried to replace it as of yet. But I know many of you will love your feta! Here is a recipe you can use to make your own from Happy Herbivore, Fat Free Vegan Feta Cheese. Or maybe you would like this Baked Almond Feta from Vegan Version. In either case,  be sure to read the comments before making this and enjoy! If you know of a great vegan feta recipe...please share...many would love to know.

Simple, healthy and flavorful...

Enjoy!

Spicy Coleslaw + Tahini Dijon Dressing

I've always loved coleslaw's. I'm pretty particular about my slaw's though and don't like them to be overly dripping with dressing. For me the perfect coleslaw has just the right amount of dressing to lightly coat each and every piece. I like it to keep some crunch and texture even after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. A dressing should enhance the slaw's ingredients rather than drown them out. Here we have a perfect balance of ingredients making for a slaw that I can easily enjoy often. Instead of reaching for a salad I can whip this up and enjoy for an easy lunch or dinner. A head of cabbage holds up well in the fridge and has plenty of health benefits. It would also be great as a side to a veggie burger or falafel. If you're up for a variation on slaw's you can try this one from the recipe collection: Asian Slaw Salad + Miso Ginger Dressing...it's bright and zesty!

This recipe was inspired by a wonderful blog I came across called, Tea With Me, you can find the original recipe here. I loved everything about this recipe (especially the pepperoncinis!), I just veganized it using a tahini blend instead of sour cream. I also added a bit more veggies, upped a few minor ingredients in the dressing and it came out beautifully. By using a tahini and water blend you're cutting some of the fat and calories without losing any creaminess making this a very healthy meal. Feel free to use more tahini instead of the water if you prefer. This recipe can easily be cut in half if needed but I will assure you that you'll be glad you made the whole recipe. This recipe is raw, nut free, soy free and gluten free. 

  

So easy, simple and delicious!

Spicy Coleslaw + Tahini Dijon Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 head green cabbage, shredded 
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, julienned
• 4 scallions (green onions), sliced
• 12 pepperoncini or banana peppers, julienned or diced
• himilayan salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• sesame seeds, to serve

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons pure cane sugar or pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of fresh cracked pepper

Start by mixing your dressing. In a small bowl combine dressing ingredients. Set aside. After five minutes or so, taste for flavor adding anything extra you might like. (You may also consider mixing the dressing on the bottom of the bowl you will be mixing your coleslaw in leaving one less dish to wash.)

In a large mixing bowl, add cabbage, carrots, scallions, pepperoncinis. Drizzle with dressing and mix to combine. Add salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste. Serve at room temp or chilled. This is a great salad to make ahead and let set covered an hour or so on the counter or in the refrigerator for longer.

Serve with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds over top.

Serves 2 - 4

Notes:

If using pure cane sugar or other granulated sugar, you may consider mixing with 1 tablespoon warm water so the granules will dissolve completely.

I like spicy foods but feel free to adjust the amount of peppers to taste.

I tend to keep my tahini in the refrigerator so mine is always a bit thicker due to being cold, if using room temp tahini you may need less water. Keep in mind: If dressing is too thin, add more tahini. If dressing it too thick, add a tad more water until desired consistency.

A note on the dressing: I found it was a bit sweet as I was mixing and tasting it. I worried that even 2 teaspoons was too much sugar but once the salad was completed it was perfect and not sweet at all. Keep that in mind when tasting the dressing and adjusting, you may feel something is off but once it all comes together the results are delicious! Add more vinegar for extra tang.

Recipe can easily be cut in half.

Enjoy!