This fresh salad makes it a treat to eat more spinach and quinoa. Easy-peasy healthy salad, just so you know!
Spring is finally here … Hooray! 🙂 One of the reasons I love this season is that I can now play with all the yummy, fresh produce around at the moment and whip up some light but satisfying salads that are so crazy-good, even the carnivores will come running over for dinner.
In our house, we love enjoying a satisfying salad for dinner, really. Basically, I pack up most of my salads with tons of fresh veggies, cheese, seeds and nuts that keep us full for hours.
In this salad the chicken and quinoa will fill you up while the rest of the veggies like spinach, tomatoes, onions, radish, cucumber and the feta cheese add lots of flavor and vitamins. The dressing is fresh and lovely too. It’s made with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a tiny bit of honey, so light and balanced.
If you’re a health FREAK like me, then why not grill the chicken and then add it to the salad. By the time you are done chopping the veggies, the chicken breasts will be grilled too.
One last thing, I love using quinoa in many of my salads as it’s loaded with fiber, minerals and protein. Not to mention, it’s a food that contains all the essential amino acids, being seen as a “complete protein”.
So here is your MUST-TRY salad fully loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- - 1 bundle of fresh spinach
- - 2 chicken breasts (about a pound), grilled
- - 150 g of quinoa
- - 3 tomatoes, chopped
- - 100 g Feta cheese
- - ½ cucumber, chopped
- - 4 radish, chopped
- - 1 big sized onion, peeled and chopped
- - ½ lemon juice
- - 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
- - a splash of honey
- - sea salt and pepper to taste
- - 1 pinch of red chili flakes
- - a pinch of oregano
- - a pinch of marjoram
- - a pinch of cayenne pepper
- Preheat the grill to a medium-high heat. Season the two chicken breasts with oregano, marjoram and cayenne pepper and put them directly on the grill for about 5 -10 minutes, making sure to turn them on both sides as needed, to prevent burning it.
- Meanwhile, cook the quinoa. Rinse it, place it in a medium saucepan and add 300ml water. As I mentioned before, the rule is pretty simple - two parts of water for one part of grain, cover, and cook for approximately 15 minutes until the germ separates from the seed. Try it before taking it out and keep it as al dente as possible, which gives it extra flavor. When it is done, set it aside to cool.
- While quinoa and chicken are cooked, wash all the veggies very well and chop them. Transfer them in a large bowl, add chunks of Feta cheese and the dressing (olive oil, a bit of honey and lemon juice).
- At the end, combine the veggies with the quinoa and chicken in a bowl or on a salad plate and garnish it with your favorite seeds. I love using sunflower and flax seeds.
Just get creative, use the ingredients you have at hand and “cook it fit”.
Stay healthy & be happy!
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