Mediterranean Salad with Sprouted Quinoa

Mediterranean Salad with Sprouted Quinoa

 Yield: 6 servings

 Eat Mediterranean to be a healthy Canadian!

Equipment
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Large bowl/container
Box grater
Carrot Peeler
Wooden Spoon
Dry measuring cups
Liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Medium sized pot
Large baking sheet


Ingredients
For Mediterranean Salad:
1 English cucumber, medium dice
1 Red pepper, small dice
1 Pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 Red onion, small dice
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
1 Teaspoon celery salt (or to taste) 
Salt and pepper to taste

For Sprouted Quinoa:
2 Cups organic quinoa, soaked for 4 hours or until sprouted
2 Cups vegetable stock
2 Bay leaves
1 Tablespoon vegan margarine


For Serving:
1 can of Mixed beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 Tablespoon black olives per plate
Nutritional yeast to taste
Hemp hearts to taste
Fresh black pepper to taste


Instructions
For Mediterranean Salad:
- Prepare all vegetables into a large bowl or container
- Stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and season with celery salt and salt/pepper. Combine well.
- Set in fridge to marinate for a few hours for best flavor

For Sprouted Quinoa:
- While the salad is marinating, begin soaking your quinoa in filtered water. Let it soak for about 4 hours or until you can see it has sprouted (see image below)
- To cook sprouted quinoa, bring  2 cups of vegetable stock  with the 2 bay leaves to a boil. Drain and rinse the quinoa and add to the boiling water.  Reduce heat and cover. Sprouted quinoa  requires a lot less liquid and time to cook, so you want to keep an eye on it and cook it on low heat until it is soft and most of the liquid has absorbed (about 10 minutes). If there is any leftover liquid drain it. Once cooked, remove the pot from heat and stir in margarine.
- Spread out the quinoa onto a large baking sheet for faster cooling

For Serving:
- Serve by placing quinoa on bottom of plate, then a handful of mixed beans (optional), then the salad mix, then olives, hemp hearts, nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper.

                                            Sprouted Quinoa                  Prepared Vegetables