Herbed Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

Yield: 4-6 servings

Simply delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 lemons
• rice vinegar, splash
• olive oil, splash
• salt and pepper

Method:

1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in cold water. Add the rinsed quinoa to a small saucepan over medium heat. Toast it until it dries, turns golden, and smells deliciously toasty. Meanwhile, boil 1 ¾ cups of salted water. Add the boiling water to the toasted quinoa. It will boil vigorously – be warned. Stir, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combined chopped red pepper, onions, cilantro and chickpeas.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine the juice from 2 lemons, a splash of rice vinegar and a splash of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add quinoa to mixing bowl with other ingredients and toss to dress with lemon juice mixture. Add additional lemon juice, olive oil and salt/pepper to taste.