The other evening I wanted to sneak up something fast for dinner. It became a delicious salad with quinoa, fresh figs and mustard dressing!
It really doesn’t have to be more difficult than that to get a satisfying and pleasantly representative dinner.
It’s great to combine the salad with some green leaves and maybe even more vegetables such as thinly cut fennel, endive or even carrots.
The fresh figs are absolutely wonderful right now and quite affordable. A perfect opportunity to buy a whole bunch (or pick from your own tree if you are such a lucky one). If you still have some left after making the salad, you can always make my smoothie with pears and cinnamon…
The dressing should have a real bite to be able to compete with the quinoa. Don’t worry if it feels too fierce. It will even out once added to the salad! By adding some cream to the dressing, it will become a bit thicker and very creamy. Yum!
If you wish, you can of course combine the salad with fried tofu, oven grilled pumpkin or anything else that you have in the fridge ready to enjoy for your quick dinner.
Here we go!
Salad with quinoa, fresh figs and mustard dressing
Easily enough for 3-4 p
1 cup Beluga lentils (these do not need to be soaked before)
2,5 cups quinoa + 5,5 cups water
0,75 cup of sunflower seeds
0,75 cup of pumpkin seeds or optional nuts and almonds (I took pecans this time).
300 grams of oyster mushrooms (or other nice mushrooms available)
1 tablespoon of tamari (or soy sauce)
Neutral oil to fry in
For the serving
3 fresh figs
1 stalk of celery
1 handful of leaf parsley including the stalks
1 handful of black or yellow raisins
Mustard dressing
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of plant-based cream (for example rice, oats or soya)
Salt and pepper
How do I do it?
1. Rinse the dry lentils in a wired sieve and pour them into a small saucepan. Cover with water and let it boil until they are dense, about 10 minutes. Pour the leftover water into a wired sieve. Pour the ready lentils into a serving bowl.
2. Bring the water for the quinoa to a boil. Add the quinoa and stir. Cover with the lid and lower the heat slightly. Let it boil for about 10-12 minutes. Pour the leftover water into a wired sieve. Pour the finished quinoa to the serving bowl together with the lentils.
3. Take a dry baking pan and add the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and/or nuts or almonds. Roast them while stirring until golden. Pour them in a bowl to allow to cool off.
4. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and pour over half of it over the quinoa and the lentils. Cut the parsley stalks finely and add to the quinoa and the lentils. Stir and leave as you prepare the mushrooms.
5. Cut or tear the mushrooms into smaller pieces. Pour some oil into a frying pan and let it become warm. Add the mushrooms and fry on high heat until it has a nice color and begin to be crispy. Add the tamari and fry for a another few more minutes.
6. Chop the rest of the leafy parsley and slice the fresh figs. Cut the celery into thin slices.
7. Decorate the bowl with the lentils and quinoa with the figs, roasted seeds, raisins, mushroom and the remaining parsley leafs. Top with extra dressing. Time to dig in!
This recipe is free from gluten and lactose.