Quinoa Salad with Mango Dressing

Last weekend, J. and I organised a barbecue for our friends, because they were so sweet to come and help us with the demolition of (some parts of) our house. I spent a full day in the kitchen slicing vegetables, preparing salads, making vegan burgers (from The Best Veggie Burgers On The Planet) and – of course – a delicious desert. I love the spend the day doing nothing else then cooking.

Burgers are great, but I always look forward to the side dishes on a bbq, the salads. This Quinoa Salad is one of the four salads I made. The sweetness of the mango and the sour taste of the lemon in the dressing, make this the ideal cool dish for the summer.

Quinoa Salad with Mango Dressing (inspired by this recipe from Vanilla & Spice)

For 4 persons

1 cup quinoa
1 can chickpeas
1 red pepper
1 avocado
1/3 cup sunflowerseeds

For the dressing:
1 ripe mango
1/4 cup lemonjuice
1 tbsp olive oil (EV)
1 handfull coriander
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayennepepper
black pepper

Cook the quinoa and prepare the dressing. You slice the mango in little pieces and put them, together with the other ingredients, in the blender. (At first, I used 1/4 tsp cayennepepper, it was slightly too mild for my taste. If you prefer a mild dressing, you should go with the 1/4 tsp).

Rinse the chickpeas and slice the pepper and avocado in cubes. Put them all together in a bowl. Cool the quinoa and add it to the vegetables.

Pour the dressing over the salad and enjoy!

Tip: When you love a little bite in your salad, you should add the dressing right before you’re going to eat it. The dressing tends to make quinoa softer.

Chickpea, green beans and bell pepper stew

This stew is actually a kind of tajine, but you can make it in a normal wok or a big casserole.

Inspired by ‘Maroccan tajine with harissa’ from New Vegetarian Entertaining and ‘Chickpea tajine with sweet couscous’ from Vegetarian Supercook.

Chickpea, green beans and bell pepper stew.
Vegan, 4 persons.

1 big potato cut in little pieces
1 can chickpeas
a big hand full of green beans
2 red or orange sweet bell peppers
1 large onion
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons roasted and ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
coriander, minced
1 red pepper (like Chipotle), minced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
250 ml vegetable stock
50g dried apricots, soaked and cut into little pieces
25 g raisins, soaked
75 g pitted black olives, cut in half

Heat some oil in a casserole and add the onions and herbs (except for the coriander). Bake until the onions turn soft. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable stock. Stir to combine. Add the apricots, raisins, potato and green beans. Bake for 20 minutes over low heat, till the potato begins to soften. Add the chickpeas and bell pepper and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. This makes sure the bell pepper is still a bit crunchy. 

Serve with fresh coriander.

This dish is wonderful accompanied by quinoa or couscous.
The vegetables can easily be replaced by whatever you have on hand, just remember to adjust the cooking times.

Bon Appétit!