Quinoa Salad With Roasted Veggies And Chickpeas

Quinoa, chickpeas, fall veggies and herbs: It doesn’t get much healthier or filling than that!

The roasted veggies pack a powerful punch of nutrition and the chickpeas add the perfect amount of fiber and protein.

This dish travels and keeps well, so make a large batch and have leftovers for breakfast with a poached egg or take it to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry quinoa

• 2 cups water (or veggie broth to prepare quinoa)

• 1/2 pound broccoli, cut into florets

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces

• 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas

• 1 bunch laccinto kale, roughly chopped

• olive oil, as needed

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or more to taste)

• juice from one lemon

• 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons maple syrup

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

• salt and ground pepper, to taste

• crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Rinse and drain quinoa. Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions. Remove from heat and allow to cool

Drain and rinse your canned chickpeas. Place the chickpeas on a paper towel or hand towel to dry.

Toss broccoli and sweet potato chunks with a olive oil and roast at 425ºF for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add your kale and chickpeas to the roasting pan. Toss, and roast for another 15 minutes. Stirring the veggies around at least once during the roasting process.

Once your veggies are nice and roasted, remove from the oven and combine them with the quinoa.

Add chopped parsley to the quinoa and vegetable mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup. Gently stir in oil, and add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste. Toss dressing with the quinoa and veggies.