Tri Color Quinoa Salad with Veggies, Avocado, Cranberries and Almonds

So are you looking for creative recipes to make your healthy quinoa?  This one is delicious.  The blends of these flavors are PERFECT!

I love quinoa so much.  I love that it's packed with protein and fiber and I love its nutty texture.  I was getting bored of the same old veggie- quinoa mixture I was making so I tried one that has a little bit of sweet and crunch too 🙂

Tri Color Quinoa Salad with Veggies, Avocado, Cranberries & Almonds

adapted from Fine Cooking

• 2 Tbs. cranberries
• 1 cup tricolor quinoa, rinsed well
• Kosher salt
• ½  lemon
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp. basil
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 medium firm-ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch chunks
• ½ cup shredded carrots
• 1 can (BPA FREE) artichokes, rinsed, drained well and sliced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped toasted almonds
• 1 medium scallion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups water, the quinoa, and ½ tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (The outer germ rings of the grain will remain chewy and white. Some germ rings may separate from the grain and will look like white squiggles.) Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn it out onto a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.
2. In a pan, place 1 Tbs. oil with carrots, artichokes, tomatoes and spinach.  Saute' until vegetables soften. Add sliced almonds for  1 minute and blend until well mixed.  Remove from heat.
3. Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then squeeze 1 Tbs. juice. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, basil, cumin, paprika, and ¼ tsp. salt. In a large bowl, toss the vinaigrette with the quinoa, cranberries, avocado, scallions, and almonds. Add the vegetable mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 4.