Happy New Year!!
I hope you all had a great time celebrating last night…or holding your eyelids open with toothpicks until midnight…whichever is your thing! I rang in the 2014 within the confines of lead-lined hospital walls, but fear NOT…no matter how many drunks made their way in, come dinnertime, I was partying it up with this delicious POWER-PACKED bowl!
Is it normal to dream about food? Because I seriously have not been able to get this salad out of my head for nearly TWO WEEKS!
It all started when the man-friend and I went to Istanbul Cafe for dinner and had the best frickin’ tabbouleh I’ve ever had in my life…along with the creamiest of hummi! 😉 I wasted NO time and hit up the international market on my way home that weekend to grab up a bunch of fresh parsley!
Then it was the week of Christmas and instead of staying home and making all my foodie dreams come true, I just HAD to join the crazed masses and get those last little gifts that I knew would spoil my family rotten.
Please, St. Nick, take note of my incredible selflessness! 😀
Can I just say it’s a GOOD thing parsley has a good shelf fridge life?! Because it wasn’t until YESTERDAY afternoon that I was finally able to get my booty in the kitchen to make some magic happen!
What started in my head as quinoa tabbouleh inspired by Laura’s version back in August quickly transformed into a quinoa salad after MORE inspiration hit me from all the Christmas-colored salads I’ve been tossing up lately…
And I have to say I’m pretty darn proud of it!
Bursting with the light and fresh flavors of parsley, mint, and lemon with an incredible contrast of textures…
Smooth and creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber, juicy pomegranate…and with the last-minute idea to throw some chickpeas in there, this is one satisfying salad!
Dare I call it…SALACIOUS? 😉
Detox Quinoa Salad
By:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes plus chill time
Keywords: boil entrée salad side gluten-free dairy-free high-fiber high-protein sugar-free vegan vegetarian quinoa avocado pomegranates
Ingredients (Serves 4-6 as entrée, 8 as side)
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (approximately 1 cup cooked)
- 1 cups water
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup diced English cucumber
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- 1 medium-sized avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Juice from one lemon
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring 1 cup of water to boil over high heat.
2. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce to simmer.
3. Allow to cook for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and set aside.
5. Once quinoa has cooled slightly, combine it with the chickpeas, avocado, cucumber, pomegranate, and herbs in a large bowl and stir well.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and lemon juice and then drizzle over salad.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
9. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
With the heavy eating of the holidays behind us, a big bowl of superfoods is the perfect way to get your new year off to a fresh and healthy start! So what are you waiting for? That parsley’s not gonna chop itself! 😉
What are THREE of your favorite superfoods?
Happy New Year my favorite Broccoli Lady!!
Hummi is the word of 2013. Seriously, I love it, LOL.
I NEED to start cooking up more quinoa again! I’m always too lazy, gah! And chickpeas – genius combo once more.
3 of m favorite superfood are tigernuts (heeeey tigerrr!!) , asparagus and chocolate (yes. it’s a superfood. at least for me. ) 🙂
Haha! I knew you’d like that! 😉 And I realized that it’s been MONTHS since I made any quinoa so when I whipped this up, I made a big batch and froze some for later! Yay for thinking ahead! 😉
Tigernuts? I’m sorry, but my maturity level just dipped a bit! Lol
Happy New Year!!! 🙂
Love love quinoa salad. I’ve been getting a little bored with my usual mix though, thanks for some new ideas!
You are SO welcome, Caroline! Be on the lookout for more…I can definitely see a “foodie fixation” coming on! 😉
Happy 2014 Heather!
3 favorite superfoods… I can only really think of one off the top of my head and that would be blueberries!
Happy New year, This salad sounds so good! I love the combination of flavors. Anything with pom and avocado is bound to be a winner.
AMEN!!
Even in my hungover state, I think this salad looks awesome! I love quinoa, but I don’t make it too often…need to get on that more.
I was thinking the same thing as I was making this…so I made an extra batch and froze it for later! #winning 😉
Oh man! This looks incredible!! Thanks, girl, definitely making it!
Thanks girlie!! It was a huge hit at work…I know you’ll love it!
This looks too freaking tasty, and your photos are just gorgeous. Happy New Years, lovely lady!! <3
My favourite superfoods? Well, I know chocolate is definitely up there 😉
Yum that looks delicious! My 3 favourite super foods are chia seeds, avocado and coconut oil!
Happy New Year! I need this so bad for the rest of eternity. I’m so hungover blaaaaah 🙁 Love this recipe, lady!
Yum! This looks like a fresh and delicious way to start the new year right 🙂 Happy New Year to you lovely.
Happy New Year friend! xoxo This salad looks to DIE for… all but the cucumbers… 🙂 They don’t like me.
What I wouldn’t give to have this salad in my mouth right now. It looks absolutely beautiful and sounds just as delicious. I love the addition of cucumbers and pomegranates. It’s perfect.
I’m feasting on a nice big bowl of homemade vegetarian chili. It’s spicy and satisfying, and this salad would be the perfect accompaniment.
Looks BEAUTIFUL lady!! I love almost every superfood! Poms, bloobs, cacao, acai, avocado…and the list goes on and on
This looks delicious my friend!!
I will definitely be making this!
Awesome! I’d LOVE to know what you think! It was a big hit at work the other day…even the people who don’t normally eat “healthy” stuff! 😉
Happy New Year!
This looks seriously awesome. I love the addition of pomegranate. I seriously need to buy them more often and stop being so lazy about not wanting to cut them open and extract the arils. 😛
3 of my favourite superfoods are bananas, sweet potatoes, and avocados!
Oh I know what you mean! I always dread having to cut one up, but then after I’m done, I’m like, ehhhh that wasn’t so bad! Haha! I just need to get in the habit of doing it as SOON as I get home from the store…especially since I plan on buying at least a dozen more before the season ends! 😀
Can I just say these pictures are GORGEOUS!!! And I totally need to detox. Love me my sweets but definitely have some sort of vitamin deficiency after the last few weeks on my cookie diet. I’ve been a kale whore the last few days and of course my bananas and nuts have made an appearance.
Happy New Year to my beautiful broccoli! I’m so happy we connected in 2013. I’ve been stalking you for years but now I feel like our friendship is a little more equal 😉 You are one of my blogging inspirations and I really look forward to reading every KMB post. Here’s to a fabulous 2014! xo
Omg, Davida! You’re gonna make me cry! I had no idea you’d been following me before! Aww, I heart you SO much! And just so you know, I could say all the same things about YOU! xoxo
This looks perfect. I love the flavor combinations and the pictures are beautiful. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Heather! Happy New Year!
I have parsley in my fridge needing to be used up – I love the salad and it’s pretty colors! And – let’s be honest – I could use a bit of a detox.
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Love quinoa and its super easy to make and can pair it with just about anything! Love this recipe, cant wait to try it this weekend!
I know, right? So versatile! I plan on making more of these salads in the future…and cooking quinoa more in general! I forgot how great and nutty the flavor is! Please, let me know what you think of the recipe! 🙂
Parsley is without the doubt the grossest thing EVER. okay, grossest herb ever. But this salad… wow, it may convert me to eat it… well I’d remove the parsley and then eat it. 😉
Three superfoods- walnuts, sardines and…red bull. Oops.
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