I am pretty sure I am not the only one looking for tasty, delicious salads for dinner now that the weather is warming up? Finally, London is getting warmer too, and we all keep our fingers crossed that the heat will last.. I even started writing this post sunbathing on my roof terrace, pretty epic for London.. So now to the salad: this one combines quinoa for protein and fibre, nuts & seeds for their good fats, and a good range of colourful vegs for their antioxidant properties, vitamins and minerals.. this combo makes this salad a very balanced meal. I ve cut the fennel is very thin slices, which I oven baked for a couple of minutes to give added crunchiness. Orange & fennel is a divine taste combination, and I strengthened the zingy taste by adding the orange zest in the vinaigrette. It also contains thinly sliced snowpeas or mangetouts that also add to the crunchiness.
Ingredients (for 2 people)
-1/2 a cup of quinoa
-5 small radishes, sliced
– ½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced
-1 small orange, you will need both the zest and the fruit
-6 snow peas or mangetout, thinly sliced
– a handful of pistachio nuts, crashed
-1 tsp of flaxseed
-1 tsp pumpkin seeds
For the sauce:
- 3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
- 1tsp apple cider vinegar
- Zest of one orange
- Salt & pepper to taste
-prepare the quinoa as per pack instructions. Usually you boil in 3 times their quantity in water and once boiled and they absorb the water,remove from the fire and leave to soak with the lid on.
-oven bake the fennel strips with a little olive oil in 180C for 10-12 mins. The thinner the crunchier they will be.
– once the quinoa has cooled, add in a bowl and mix with the sliced vegetables.
– add the cooled fennel strips and sprinkle with the pistachio, pumpkin seeds and flaxseed.
-mix the sauce ingredients in a cup and pour over the salad.