Don’t have time to cook during the week? Then this healthy quinoa salad is the recipe for you. Make it ahead of time; it will keep in your fridge all week-long. Serve it as a main dish or a side, either way this delicious salad will be a hit with the family and a great addition to the Healthy Dinner Series.
“Delicious” is the key word here. Let’s face it, if it doesn’t taste good, you won’t eat it no matter how healthy it is. The yogurt vinaigrette gives this dish a nice twist. It is rich, creamy and full of flavor. Nobody will ever know that you used Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
Now what makes this salad so healthy? With chickpeas, kidney beans and quinoa it’s loaded with protein and fiber, both of which will keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer. So let’s talk about quinoa shall we? As Athena mentioned last week; it is a complete protein and a healthy whole grain. You get two for one here, good carbs plus protein, now how can you beat that?
And how about the spinach, artichokes and blueberries? All 3 make this quinoa salad high in vitamins and antioxidants. You’ve got lots of good things going on here with this healthy dish.
I’d love to take the credit for this, but I can’t. It’s based off of a recipe I found on Joy the Baker, Wild and Brown Rice Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette. All I did was substitute the quinoa for the rice and added kidney beans instead of potatoes, she did everything else.
Quinoa Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette
Print recipeIngredients
Quinoa Salad
- 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 can low sodium chick peas (rinsed and drained)
- 1 can low sodium red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
- 1-2 cup baby spinach
- 1 (16 oz) jar artichoke hearts (chopped)
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Yogurt Vinaigrette
- 3/4 cups non fat Greek yogurt (2% works too)
- 1 heaped tablespoon course ground or Dijon mustard
- 1 heaped tablespoon honey
- fresh parsley (chopped)
- fresh chives (chopped)
- fresh mint leaves (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Directions
| Cook the quinoa in 1.5 cups of water. Meanwhile add the chick peas, beans, artichokes and spinach into a large bowl. Mix in the cooked quinoa and blueberries. | |
| Yogurt Vinaigrette | |
| Mix the honey, mustard and yogurt in a bowl. Whisk until blended. Mix in the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper | |
| Serve the quinoa salad and top with a spoonful of the yogurt dressing. | |
If you don’t have quinoa on hand, there’s no need to panic. I’ve made this with wild brown rice as Joy did, and it is fabulous that way too. You could also change it up a bit with regular pearled barley, whole wheat couscous or even regular brown rice, all very healthy options.
You will fall in love with this quinoa salad as soon as you taste it, trust me, it’s that good. To make sure it lasts you the week, serve it up as a side dish. It goes great will grilled chicken, watermelon and romaine lettuce.
Yep, that’s right. Grill your lettuce. Dress it with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and throw it on the grill. It cooks fast so just make sure you don’t burn it…
Getting tired of grilled chicken? That happens to me to0. Try it with grilled salmon, swordfish or on occasion a lean cut of steak.
Enjoy!
For some other great healthy ideas check out the 4 other recipes we have in the Healthy Dinner Series.
Week 1: Mediterranean Turkey Burgers and a Colorful Salad
Week 2: Marinated Chicken, Grilled Watermelon and Couscous Salad
Week 3: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce
Week 4: Ground Turkey and Quinoa Loaf
Do you have a healthy “go to” meal that you love?
Personal Trainers, Boston, MA
This looks excellent, as usual! I will be trying it this weekend. This looks like it would make a great post-workout dinner!
[...] more from the original source: Healthy Dinner Series 5 of 6: Delicious Quinoa – Be Fit with Kristen … Read more from Eco-Lifestyle delicious, either-way, family, fridge, great-addition, main-dish, [...]
[...] you to Kristen at Be Fit With Kristen for posting the recipe as part of her Healthy Dinner Series! I can’t wait to have this for leftovers throughout [...]
[...] Healthy Dinner Series 5 of 6: Delicious Quinoa Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette (befitwithkristen.com) [...]
[...] Week 5: Delicious Quinoa Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette [...]