Prep Time: 15 mins | Total time: 15 mins
Course: Side dish | Servings: 2
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- ½ cup bell peppers, finely diced (I use a combination of red, yellow and green)
- ¼ cup cucumber, finely diced
- 2 tbsp black olives, chopped
- ¼ cup semi-hard cheese, diced (I prefer Gouda, but regular processed cheese will also do). Tip: keep the cheese dices similar sized as the chopped vegetables
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- For the dressing:
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp honey
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
Instructions:
- Wash and drain the quinoa. In a pan, add the quinoa with 2 cups of water, bring to a boil and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked, approximately 5 minutes. Cover and leave for 2-3 minutes. With a fork, fluff the quinoa. Allow it to cool down completely
- In a salad bowl, add cooked quinoa, diced onion, bell peppers, cucumber, olives, diced cheese and cranberries
- To make dressing, put all of the dressing ingredients into a lidded glass jar. Shake vigorously for it to emulsify, approximately 30 seconds
- Add dressing to salad. Toss well.
- Serve cold. Add pine nuts when serving.