Vegan Sweet and Spicy Quinoa Salad

I am in a massive eat-all-the-grains-and-add-all-the-beans-phase at the moment. And I blame the Whole Foods salad bar! Almost all salads there were made of a grainy base like rice, couscous, bulgur or quinoa and they all had at least one legume like black beans, kidney beans, edamame, lentils or chickpeas in them. And the other thing they all had in common? They were extraordinarily good-tasting and therefore highly addictive. So what’s a German girl gotta do when the next Whole Foods is 1009 km (yes, I googled that) away? Sure, getting some inspiration for her own salad bar.

The outcome was this vegan, gluten-free and protein-rich salad that makes me almost forget the 1009 km! So this is #1 of a few salads coming up which will be followed by a few BBQ recipes. I will make the king of marinades (aka the hubby) share some of his favorites with me so that I can share them with you guys. The summer can come 🙂

Print Recipe

Vegan Sweet and Spicy Quinoa Salad

Author: Juli

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup sweet corn
• 1 cup peeled edamame beans
• 1-2 hands chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup maple syrup can sub for honey
• 1 T sambal
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T lemon juice

Instructions

• Cook the quinoa and set aside to allow cooling
• In a large bowl mix the chopped tomatoes, sweet corn, edamame beans and parsley
• Add a little salt and pepper, sambal, lemon juice and maple syrup and stir well
• Now add the quinoa, mix everything well together and let sit for approx. one hour
• Add salt, pepper, syrup or sambal if necessary

Notes

This salad is vegan, naturally gluten-free, and high in protein thanks to the quinoa, corn and edamame beans. It's an ideal meal for post-workout recovery and it's a fresh and yummy alternative to couscous or bulgur salads which are made of wheat.
You can store the salad in an air tight container in your fridge up to 4 days
This is two large portions or 4 side portions

First I didn’t think this recipe would qualify as strange until I brought the leftovers to work. My co-workers boyfriend came along asking what I had for lunch. When I told him it was a salad he eyed my plate suspiciously and replied that this couldn’t be a salad as there was no lettuce in there. Okay strange it is as it seems…..

I am linking up with Laura again today! Let’s find out what kind of #strangebutgood recipes the other bloggers came up with 😀

This weekend is going to be pretty cool with three days off and our wedding anniversary on Sunday. I seize every opportunity to celebrate a little <3

Have a great Friday and a fabulous weekend!