Quinoa Salad with Grilled Chicken and Corn
Whenever winter
comes we load ourselves up on meaty, carb-y goodness. We crave soups and warm food, pasta,
casseroles, pies and roasts. Most of the
time, we forget about salads. That’s not
so much a problem if we eat lots of vegetables with these roasts and
soups. For me, I still need to eat a
salad here and there. It might be a
mental thing more than anything. I need
that cleansing feeling more than anything.
I made this
salad a few times over summer and have been meaning to post it. But being me, it was filed and
forgotten. I made it again last week,
and although aspects of the salad constantly change based on what ingredients I
have on hand, the concept stays the same – quinoa, chicken and corn.
I’m trying to
eat more quinoa these days as I know that my wheat intake is a little too
high. I am half Italian after all, so
avoiding it is hard. Being winter, it’s
also hard to bring myself to eat salad when all I want it hot food. But, I always feel good after eating this and
never regret my decision.
A couple of
extra notes. I think in this salad
(images) I used mixed sprouts instead of pine nuts. Mixed sprouts are so good for you, but I
can’t pass up toasted pine nuts when I have them at home. Also, try and grill the corn if you can – it
adds the most intense smoky flavour which I think makes the salad. I used this dressing for the salad, but a
simple olive oil and red vinaigrette works great too.
QUINOA SALAD
WITH GRILLED CHICKEN AND CORN
½ cup quinoa
1 cup water
½ vegetable
stock cube
2 large corn
cobs
2 chicken
breasts
Small bag of
mixed lettuce (rocket, spinach, gourmet lettuce)
1 handful pine
nuts, toasted
100g feta
1 avocado,
cubed
Salad dressing
Place ½ cup of washed quinoa and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan.
Add the ½ stock cube and bring to the boil. When boiled, reduce to a simmer and allow the
quinoa to cook and absorb all the water.
When done, drain the quinoa, gently run a little water over it and allow
it to cool in a sieve. Set aside.
Cut off any
excess fat on the chicken, rub a little salt and olive oil on it and set
aside. Rub a little olive oil on the
corncobs and place on a hot griddle (or fry pan). Turn occasionally until the cobs have nice
grill marks. Place them in a bowl, cover
with plastic wrap and set aside. The
plastic wrap allows them to continue cooking and soften the kernels.
Place the
chicken on the same grill pan and cook on each side for 10 or so minutes. When cooked, set aside to cool.
Remove the corn
kernels from the cob by running s sharp knife down the side of the cob from top
to bottom. Turn the cob and repeat until
all kernels are removed.
Slice the
chicken up (or shred if you prefer).
Place the
lettuce in a big bowl. Scatter over the
cooled quinoa, chicken, corn, toasted pine nuts and avocado. Crumble over the feta, and pour over your
salad dressing. I recommend this one.
Serves 4 as a
main.
That looks delicious. I'm with you, trying to increase my winter salad intake. Serving it while the chicken is still warm would work well for me in this cooool weather.
ReplyDeleteWe just ate quinoa salad last night. Yours looks deeeelightful - and I'm loving the grilled chicken and corn...
ReplyDeleteThat salad looks so beautiful and vibrant! I love the mix of greens, corn, quinoa, and chicken. :)
ReplyDeleteThe unpredictable mix is charming. Love to try this. I am more of a salad girl during the summer months to keep me refreshed. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
ReplyDeletelooks delicious! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFollow my new up and coming blog on Bloglovin', if you like it. I can follow you back if you want ;)
LA By Diana Live Magazine
I am a huge salad fan, and this looks like one that is going on my "to taste" list. So fresh, yet hearty.
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious! Reminds me to use up some of my quinoa in the pantry!
ReplyDeleteI make a yummy salad with quinoa in summer with green beans, peas, fetta, chicken and lots of herbs and lemony dressing!
Thanks for the great post!