Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1/3 cup Red Onion (Finely diced)
• 1 ea Red Bell Pepper (Small diced)
• 1 can Chickpeas (approx. 15 oz(400g ) Washed and drained)
• 1/3 cup Fresh Parsley (Finely chopped)
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice (bottled or juice from 2 lemons)
• 1 clove Garlic (Minced)
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Maple Syrup (or sugar)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   1. Rinse the quinoa and drain well. Combine the quinoa and water( the ratio is 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water) Once bring the liquid to a boil, turn the heat down to very low and cook for further around 10 minutes. When the water is completely disappeared, turn off the heat. Fluff it up with a fork, leave the lid on and let it continues cooking for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, transfer the quinoa to a glass mixing bowl and leave it in the fridge to cool down.

2. 2

   2. Place the ingredients for the salad dressing in a glass jar (minced garlic, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, cumin, maple syrup, salt& pepper) twist the lid on and ready for use.

3. 3

   3. Once the quinoa has completely cooled down, place washed and drained chickpeas, diced red onion, red bell pepper, and chopped fresh parsley in the bowl with quinoa. Give the salad dressing a few good shakes until the dressing mixes up then pour the salad dressing over all other ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4. 4

   4. Toss well, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve cold or room temperature. It will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator.