Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Roasted Cashews

 

I enjoy making salads with quinoa, a grain, which has a lot of protein. This salad is easy to make and is great as a side dish for salmon, chicken or just by itself. Here is a recipe for it.

Ingredients:

1 cup of dried red quinoa
2 cups of cold water
1 cup of raw cashews
1 cup of dried cranberries (sweetened of course!)
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
juice of half a lemon
Salt and Pepper
4 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. In a pan combine dried quinoa and water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so that quinoa is boiling, cover the pan with a lid, let cook for about 10-15 minutes until all water is absorbed and you can fork the quinoa. Transfer cooked quinoa to a big bowl and let it cool off.
2. Heat the oven to 425F degrees. Put cashews on a baking sheet and let roast for about 8-11 minutes until golden brown. Take cashews out and cool them off.
3. Once quinoa and cashews cooled off you can make the salad. To the bowl of quinoa add roasted cashews, dried cranberries, chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients together.
4. Notes: You can change amounts of quinoa, cranberries, cashews and cilantro to your taste. You can add more or less. I usually eyeball things when I cook.