A few years ago, when I had only just started blogging, I was invited to a food bloggers event about tomatoes. We had a nice afternoon, during which we got a tour of the greenhouses, an explanation of the different tomato varieties they cultivated, and of course we could taste some delicious dishes made with their tomatoes. Even though this was quite some time ago, there is one thing that I tasted that afternoon, that I can still remember like it was just yesterday: an “Asian” tomato salad with cilantro and spring onion, and the most amazing dressing with umami flavors. It was just simply amazing.
Vegans are often accused of two things: they either get no protein at all, or they get all their protein from “artificial sources” such as protein drinks. Truth is, for me – and most of the vegans I’ve met – neither is the case! I love me some Mexican bean tacos, Indian lentil soup, and Middle-Eastern chickpeas. Since I’ve been tracking my protein intake with the app My Fitness Pal for quite a while now, I can confidently say that I get plenty of protein every single day, without drinking protein shakes like my life depends on it. Of course I eat the occasional protein bar, simply because I like them.
Ever since I started my research internship at the KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute), this salad has been part of my go-to lunch if I have the ingredients on hand. It is super simple to make with only 5 ingredients, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and it is really tasty too! And it will even taste better if you let it sit for a while, so the flavors can really mix together.
Ahh guys, this salad is DA BOMB!
And yes, I’m totally using that 2006 word, because yeah I’m retro like that 💁
This quinoa salad kind of falls in the same category as my Grain Salad with Raspberries, Basil and Walnuts. Partly because they are delicious, but mostly because they are both super portable and I love taking them with me to uni for lunch or as a delicious study snack.
I’m not gonna spend a lot of time talking about this salad, because it just simply is amazing, and you have to try it too!! You’ll love it ☺
For the last couple of weeks, salads based on grains like these have been my lunch staple, as they are:
1. Portable
2. Grab-and-go
3. Delicious
4. Make-ahead
5. Filling
6. Customizable
7. Gluten-free (or not, if you want to!)
etcetera etcetera.
I could compile a whole list, of why exactly I love grain based “salads” like these so much. I say “salads” because in my pre-grain based salad mind, a salad is something super boring, with an iceberg lettuce base, some watery cucumbers and tomatoes on top, and if you were lucky you might get some mushy croutons.
Yeah… That doesn’t really gets me excited for food. Buuut, this salad is completely different! There is no iceberg lettuce involved, no watery cucumber and definitely no mushy croutons. I was actually thinking about not calling this a salad, but then, what would it be? Thesaurus describes it as a dish of vegetables, and the synonyms are: potato salad; coleslaw; greens; fruit salad; mixed greens; tossed salad; and Waldorf salad. Not really much to work with right?! So for now I’ll just stay with salad, just know that this is a special salad 😉
After I made my quinoa sushi, I still had some avocado, cucumber and spring onions left. I really hate throwing food away that is still perfectly fine to eat, so I decided to make a sushi bowl (as I was too lazy to actually make some more sushi haha).
