Ingredients

• Salad:
• 1 cup white quinoa
• 1 cup red quinoa
• 1 onion, sliced very thin
• 5 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ wide coins
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, chopped
• 3 cups cooked chick peas
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• kosher salt
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• Dressing:
• 2 T brown mustard seeds
• 1 T whole cumin seeds
• 1.5 T cinnamon
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (I used meyer lemons, since they are in season)
• 2 T dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2/3 cup grapeseed oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Combine the mustard seeds, cumin and salt in a mortar and pestle and bash the spices around until you have a rough grind. Set aside.

3. Cook the quinoa with 1tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp kosher salt according to your package directions (or in the rice cooker as I do). When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and scoop into a really large mixing bowl.

4. While the quinoa cooks, roast the veggies. Peel the carrots and slice into coins about 1/4″ wide. Chop the bell pepper and poblano into bite size pieces. Toss the carrots and peppers in a bowl, and add 1tsp of the spice mixture, a pinch or two of kosher salt, and 1tsp olive oil. Stir to coat. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil, and pour the veggies onto the sheet, spreading them out in one layer. Slice the onion in half, then slice into very thin slices – I used a mandoline with the thin-slicing blade here. Spray a second sheet pan with olive oil and spread the onions onto it in one layer – sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt. Place both sheet pans of veggies in the oven (one on high-middle shelf, one on bottom shelf) and roast for 15 minutes, then stir. Roast for another 10 minutes, then remove from the peppers and carrots from oven and scoop the roasted veggies into the mixing bowl on top of the quinoa – let them hang out on top for a few minutes to cool off, so the carrots don’t go completely soggy on you. The onions will need another 15-20 minutes – you want them to caramelize and get a bit crispy. When they’re starting to crisp, remove them from the oven, and add to the veggies and quinoa.

5. Make the dressing: Combine 1/3 cup lemon juice 2/3 cup grapeseed oil, 2 T dijon mustard, the remaining spice mixture and cayenne in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add salt to taste – the dressing should be pretty highly seasoned, as it will be the main flavoring for all that fluffy quinoa.

6. Add the cooked, drained chickpeas, toasted pine nuts and minced parsley to the mixing bowl with the quinoa and veggies. Gently stir to combine everything. Pour most of the vinaigrette over the salad, reserving 1/4 cup. Stir to coat everything in the dressing. Taste, and adjust seasoning and adjust with a squirt more lemon juice a dash more cayenne or salt if needed. You can store in the fridge until ready to serve, then toss the salad with the reserved dressing. Salad tastes best at room temperature.

7. 7 cal per 1.5 cups, 160 cal from fat, 18.9g fat, 350mg sodium, 180mg potassium, 41g carb, 10g fiber, 9.6g protein

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