Salad Lover

A bad/good situation: being over hungry with a fridge and backyard full of fresh produce.  Had the foresight to make a batch of quinoa earlier in the day; it was cooling in the fridge.

Inspiration: ginger dressing on a quinoa salad.  Final product?  Delicious.



Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
4-6 servings.  Use whatever vegetables you have around.

3/4 cup dry quinoa
1.5 cups water

1 large kale leaf
1 large handful spinach
1/2 portobello mushroom
1 medium tomato
1 small green pepper
1/2 can white beans, rinsed
2 carrots
Small avocado

Bring the water and quinoa to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool in the fridge.

Finely chop all the vegetables except the avocado.  Place in a large bowl.  Once the quinoa is cool, combine together then toss with the dressing.  Place avocado slices on top and enjoy.

Dressing:
1 carrot
2 inch piece of ginger
About 1 tablespoon sized chunk of shallot or onion
1 large clove garlic
Soy sauce-- start with 2 tablespoons
Rice vinegar-- start with 3 tablespoons
Dark sesame oil-- start with 2 teaspoons
Sesame oil-- start with 2 tablespoons
Water-- start with 1/4 cup

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender (very easy and little chopping needed if using a Vitamix) and blend until smooth.  Test and add additional seasonings as needed.  The dressing should be good and on the strong side as its taste will become diluted once it's tossed into the salad.  I used the entire recipe for the salad.