Hi friends!
Happy Hump Day! Hope you’re having a good one. I’m taking a little lunch break to blog today. I ran across this awesome quote earlier:
Well isn’t that a good healthy living rule of thumb?! And speaking of plants, I have quite a nutritious, delicious recipe to share today:
It all started when I happened to see a recipe with marcona almonds somewhere. It reminded me how much I love them, and all of a sudden I was on a mission to nab marcona almonds and create a recipe that incorporates them.
Once I decided that I’d make a quinoa salad, ingredient ideas just started dancing in my head.
I have a fresh mint plant that I’ve barely used recently. The other day I got a whiff of the plant while watering it. I love the smell of fresh mint, and I started thinking that I need to incorporate it into my recipes more often – starting with this one!
Besides the star ingredients of red quinoa and crunchy marcona almonds, this salad includes crunchy green beans and is packed with other produce goodness:
I topped the salad off with some mixed up salt, oregano, and a light dressing of fresh lemon juice + extra virgin olive oil + red wine vinegar.
For those of you that struggle with coming up with healthy lunch ideas while you’re at work or are looking for a new dish to add to your mix of meals to have when you’re on-the-go, this salad is a great option to make at the beginning of the week, put in individual containers, and have readily available whenever you want it during your hectic week.
Sometimes I make meals that are what I call “a little hippie dippy” for my hubby’s taste. He isn’t all that creative with food himself, but he’s a great taste tester due to his lack of pickiness and general awesomeness. Last night he declared this salad to be “good, but also kind of a bit weird” – but then I saw that he took leftovers of it to work with him today. So while I adored this salad right from the start, I think that after my manly man had a chance to get acclimated to the idea of a quinoa salad, he decided it was pretty good too!
Quinoa Green Bean Salad with Marcona Almonds
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa I used an Inca Red variety but any kind will work
- 2 cups string beans
- 2 Persian cucumbers
- 2 roasted red peppers
- 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup marcona almonds I used dry roasted & unsalted
- 2 cups arugula
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
- 3/4 TBSP mixed up salt
- 1/2 TSP oregano
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, trim and cut green beans, and steam until slightly tender.
- While quinoa and beans are cooking, prep your veggies. Dice Persian cucumbers, roasted red pepper, cherry tomatoes, and mint, and place in a large bowl.
- Add arugula and almonds to the mixture.
- Once quinoa is done cooking, allow it to cool slightly, then pour it into the large bowl. Add green beans when they're done cooking as well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pour onto the salad.
- Add salt and oregano, mix together well, and enjoy!
Oh this is great!!! I have so much mint and I sometimes struggle to use it all. What a great lunch idea!
Thank you! Well maybe you can make this recipe and use some of your mint. 😉
This looks so good and healthy, and I’m cracking up at you saying “hippie dippy” lol it always sounds like your hubby likes your meal creations though!
Haha, I’m not sure if I made that phrase up or not!! And yes, I’m lucky because he’s open to trying new vegetarian foods & recipes, even though he’s more of a plain chicken or steak & potatoes kind of guy.
I love this recipe! I actually added almonds to a wild rice recipe this week! Sometimes my boyfriend begs me to make unhealthy things for him! I’ve lied before and told him something was “unhealthy” when it really wasn’t and he wolfed it down…so sneaky 😉
Hahaha. That was like me baking muffins for a work thing of my hubby’s last night – I used flax eggs, almond milk and light butter and was like muwahaha they’ll never know that they’re healthier!
I hate to admit it, but I’ve never made quinoa before. I’m always hearing about it. Maybe I’ll finally try it and make this recipe!
Oh no worries, quinoa might sound a little intimating, but it’s totally not. Try it, you just might like it!