Quinoa Salad with Green Veggies & Macadamia Nut ‘Feta’

This salad is full of all the stuff that you think about eating as you slice off another piece of buckwheat toast for your second meal of avo toast in one day. Even better, it’s the kind of thing that you can make once at the beginning of the week to guarantee yourself at least one solid meal every day that week. You can even make it the following week without getting tired of it by mixing up some of the ingredients.

Quinoa, the protein-rich non-grain is one of my faves. If soaked and cooked properly, it tastes neutral and has a really nice texture. Soaking it also makes it far easier to digest. If you think you’re not a quinoa fan, try cooking it this way, or take the time to make this recipe (it’s pretty straight forward), and you’ll change your mind. Switch it out for buckwheat or millet, if you need a change.

Fresh herbs add flavour, nutrients and digestive support, and you can add whichever ones you’re feeling these days. Try swapping the mint out for dill, cilantro, or tarragon, or just a big handful of fresh chives –this is a good way of changing around the entire taste of the salad so that you don’t get sick of it. If you’re not feeling the distinct taste of herbs these days, try adding some chopped, fresh spinach.

Thanks to the sweet green veggies, this salad really does taste like spring. Not the kind of spring that was happening while I wrote this which required dusting off the rain boots, wearing a toque at home and this bowl of lentil soup. But the hopeful kind of spring day, that warrants a big, sweet-smelling inhale and exhale as you step outside.

We have used asparagus and broccoli, two famous cancer crushers who get along well flavour-wise. Try other veggies too, especially when asparagus isn’t in season: zucchini, thinly sliced kale or Swiss chard, rapini, cauliflower, radishes or anything seasonal and exciting that catches your eye at the Farmers market.

Green peas are rich in calcium, potassium and vitamin A and B vitamins. I’m a fan of frozen peas, I find the flavour is consistent and they are shucked when they are at their pique of freshness (hence their natural sweetness), which also means that their nutrients are at their best. I love shucking fresh peas when they’re in season, but the rest of the year, I don’t hesitate to turn towards good quality frozen ones. Great for a sprained ankle too.

I haven’t even gotten to the most fun part yet. I was thinking about adding a healthy fat/protein source and wanted it to be more interesting than a handful of hemp hearts (although, this will do if you’re in a hurry). I call it ‘feta’ and think it goes well with the mint and parsley, but it’s not really feta cheese, it’s briefly blended macadamia nuts. They are really fatty and once blended, stick together, unlike other nuts and seeds. They really do taste rich and decadent and with the help of some tart lemon juice, dried oregano and garlic, take it somewhere vaguely Mediterranean. So kind of like feta cheese. Either way, it’s an interesting and slightly more exotic trip to take your quinoa salad on. And think of all of the different recipes that could be improved by something vaguely feta cheese-ish? Baked Eggplant, Tomato Fennel Soup, Stuffed Grapevine Leaves, Braised Fennel with Chickpeas, Squash and Spinach Salad etc. It also freezes well, so you can pull it out of the freezer as you need it.

This salad translates to the rainy kind of spring day too, just warm it up in a small splash of water. It tastes sort of like pasta. Sort of.