Strawberry-Quinoa Salad

This salad has become a family favorite for almost a year now! It is light, sweet and salty and is almost like a "dessert" salad. The mixture of flavors with all the toppings almost taste like a raw cheesecake, yum!

I have decided after 7 years of only posting raw recipes, to include other plant-based recipes that our family has come to love. I hope they will inspire you on your own health journey!

A quick update on my health. By avoiding all the nightshades and many other foods on my weak allergy foods list,  all except for wheat and tomatoes are cleared now. Our bodies are amazing! I have also started taking a probiotic and magnesium/calcium to boost my immunity and hopefully help with my gut healing.

Back to the Salad~

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Strawberry Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

Organic Baby Spinach

Quinoa- cooked

Fresh Strawberries, cut up

Raisins

Raw sunflower seeds or Almonds

Cashew Parmesan

Avocado (optional)

Lemon-Agave Dressing

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)

Quinoa is similar to rice and can replace rice in almost any recipe. It is a complete protein and my very favorite grain because of it's light, fluffy and slightly nutty flavor. It goes well sprinkled over salads or as a main dish with veggies! I always make a big pot of it and serve half for dinner and save half for the next day!

1. To cook Quinoa rinse your desired amount once in a strainer with very small holes because the grains are so small and you do not want to lose them! 

2. Use twice as much water as quinoa +1C. Bring Quinoa to a boil.  

3. Turn to low for about 20 minutes. Stir only once or twice while it is cooking.

4. When it is almost done and you can’t see the water boiling on the sides, do NOT stir. Fluff up the sides a bit and let it sit 5-10 minutes then fluff up the top.

Cashew Parmesan 

This gives the salad the salty flavor and can sprinkled on any salad or cooked veggies and can be stored in the fridge in a container for a week. 

1 C Raw Cashews

1 T Nutritional Yeast

½ tsp. Sea Salt

Process until you have fine crumbs. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Lemon-Agave Dressing

½ C Lemon, juiced

½ C Agave

1/3 C Olive Oil

Shake together and use on any light salad for a sweet dressing.

Layer the salad starting with the Spinach. Add the quinoa, sliced strawberries, raisins, seeds, parmesan, avocado (if using) and top with dressing.

The great part about this salad is that you can make as much quinoa as you need for your family and save it and the other toppings for later!  We also love this salad because sometimes the littles want separate piles of quinoa, strawberries and a few toppings.

I hope you enjoy this family favorite salad!