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Quinoa, cranberry, parsley and cucumber salad

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Monday, 28 April 2014.
Tagged: ancient grains, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, grains, healthy cooking, healthy recipes, high fibre, low fat, low GI, low salt, quinoa, salad, vegetarian, wheat-free, whole grain, whole grains

  • Ready In: 30 mins
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cooking Time: 15 mins
  • Serves: 8 as a side
Quinoa, cranberry, parsley and cucumber salad

Use quinoa as the base but enliven it with the stronger flavours of cranberries, mint, parsley, onion and pistachio nuts. It's a winner!

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup quinoa
  • ½ cup (100 g) dried cranberries
  • 1 small Lebanese cucumber, cut lengthwise, deseeded and diced
  • 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
  • 1 cup fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
  • ½ cup pistachio, roughly chopped
  • For the dressing:
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • Freshly-ground black pepper

Nutrition per serve

900 kilojoules (215 calories), 12g fat (including 2g saturated fat), 20g carbohydrate (including 10g sugars), 4g fibre and 20mg sodium.

Read our nutrition rating system.

Directions

  1. Place quinoa and 1 ½ cups cold water in a saucepan over high heat. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until water has absorbed. Drain. Rinse. Transfer to a large bowl.
  2. Add in cranberries, diced cucumber, parsley, mint and pistachios. Before serving, pour over dressing and toss well to combine.
  3. To make dressing: Place lemon juice and oil in a screw-top jar. Season with pepper. Secure lid. Shake to combine. 

Variations

If you haven’t cranberries, use currants or sultanas.

Instead of pistachios, other nuts can be used – almonds or pecans are nice. Sunflower seeds also work well here.

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Catherine Saxelby

Hi. I’m an accredited nutritionist, blogger and award-winning author. I can help you make sense of all those crazy fad diets and weird super foods.

My aim is to help busy women eat nutrient-dense foods so they maintain a healthy weight while having heaps of energy :) And stay productive.

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