Recipe: Lentil Quinoa Salad
Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free
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If you’re looking for a fast and easy-to-make recipe I would suggest you try out my Lentil-Quinoa Salad. As some of you might have seen on my YouTube videos, I am an absolute salad lover! I eat salad five days a week and I think it’s a meal that I will never get bored of since there are so many different ways to make it. During my early months of pregnancy, I thought that I should start eating more warm meals. But after a couple of weeks, I totally started to miss salad and therefore went back to my usual meal plan.
Before pregnancy, I used to do intermitted fasting and some days even eat only one meal a day. Therefore, it was even more important for me to make sure that this one meal that I was going to eat, would include all the important nutrients in order for my body to function well. Especially because I do like to prep meals and eat the same food for several days.
The reason why this Lentil Quinoa Salad recipe is so great is that it contains proteins, fiber, essential vitamins, healthy fats, and minerals. It is not only very easy to prepare but perfect for prepping and I also love to bring it to parties or on picnics. It is a perfect recipe for everyone who follows a vegan, ketogenic, or gluten-free diet!
What you need for the Lentil Quinoa Salad (4 portions):
100g Quina (dry)
100g Lentils (dry)
100g Chickpeas (dry)
1 big carrot
2 scallions
2 cucumbers
3 sticks of celery
2 bell peppers
1 tbs of flax seeds
1 tbs of sunflower seeds
1 tbs of pumpkin seeds
1 tbs of sliced almonds
1 tbs of coconut oil
3 tbs of olive oil
1 lemon
1 pinch of himalayan pink salt
1 pinch of black pepper
How to make the Lentil Quinoa Salad:
Put the lentils and chickpeas into a bowl with water and let them soak overnight.
Add salt into boiling water and boil lentils and quinoa together for approx 15min. At the same time cook the chickpeas in the rice cooker for 20min.
When done, rinse all three (lentils, chickpeas, and quinoa) under cold water and put them into a large salad bowl.
Cut cucumber, bell peppers, and celery and wash them thoroughly - then add them to the salad bowl.
Add coconut oil to a pan.
Cut scallions and carrots, wash them, and add them to the pan. Season with some salt and pepper and let it roast on low heat for about 5-10min. Turn off the heat and wait until they cool off. Then add to the salad bowl
Roast the seed mix (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sliced almonds) in a pan without adding any oil. Add to the salad bowl.
Add the flax seeds to the salad bowl.
Season with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper and mix all together. Done!
I always have a big pack of lentils, chickpeas, and quinoa at home. They are wonderful ingredients to store at home since they don’t get bad and you can always use them for different recipes. Also, they are pretty cheap when bought in a bulk and will last you forever. As for lentils, I like to buy red, black, and brown lentils separately and mix them together myself.
Depending on the type of lentils, sometimes you can even use them when you just soak them in the water a few hours before. As for the chickpeas, the fastest way to cook them is in the rice cooker. Otherwise, you might need to boil them for about an hour.'
There are two reasons why I roast the scallions and carrots in coconut oil. First, usually, when eating raw scallions I get bloated very easily, roasting them is one way to avoid that. Second, in order for the body to absorb the valuable vitamin A from carrots, you actually need to cook them for a little and since vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin it’s always better to eat it along with some high-quality oil.
