This Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad makes a great light side dish or even a lunch. A packed full of flavour dish with roasted green peppers, spring onions, lime juice and cilantro. A healthier carb option that packed full of protein and delivers big on taste buds!
Way back in early December I found quinoa in the supermarket. I was overly excited because I have never seen it before around here. I bought it, came home and instantly made a dish for dinner. It was great. The rest of the bag went back in the cupboard forgotten until this morning. I was sitting and wondering what to have for dinner tonight, when I decided Fajitas. Just because everyone loves them. I was planning to make Mexican Rice as a side dish, but wanted something different. That was when I remembered the quinoa in the cupboard. Voilà !
As I am kind of new to cooking quinoa, exactly my second time. I thought why not fry the quinoa first like I do with rice. So, I did this to give the quinoa a better texture. It worked!
In this recipe I used roasted padron peppers. You may find them difficult to come by, depending on where you live. You can easily use any type of green pepper and just cut them into small pieces. I do love the padron peppers and they have become a staple in my cooking since living here in Spain.
Notes About The Quinoa Dish
- First, I used Padron Peppers. These are small green peppers local to us here in Spain, however, they are found in many supermarkets. You can use any kind of green pepper for this dish no problem
- You will see in the recipe below that I fried the quinoa dry before adding the stock. Don’t skip this step! It’s lends the end result of the quinoa to being more fluffy and not stogy.
Here’s Some Other Great Quinoa Recipes
Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Cup quinoa
- 2 Cups vegetable stock
- 3 Spring onions finely chopped
- 1/2 Onion finely chopped
- 10 padron peppers
- 3 cloves Garlic crushed
- Zest and juice of one lime
- Small bunch of fresh chopped cilantro
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and put the peppers in a small roasting tin. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the peppers for about 25-25 minutes. Remove from oven and de seed the peppers. Roughly chop and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a medium skillet set over high heat, fry the dry quinoa for a few minutes. Toss the pan several times. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, add the remaining olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook for about 5-8 minutes or until it is softened and lightly golden brown. Now add the quinoa and all the stock. Give a quick stir, reduce heat to low, cover and leave to cook. This will probably take about 20 minutes. Check it every so often. You want all the liquid absorbed like with rice or couscous. Give a taste towards the end of the cooking time and see if the grain is tender and cooked. If not, add a little more stock. Once it is cooked, remove from and fluff it up with a fork. Add in the lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, peppers and spring onions. Give a quick toss and serve straight away or keep serve later at room temperate.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
