Quinoa Rainbow Bowl

This is a lovely, colourful salad bowl - and quick and easy, just how I like it! Fresh, crunchy, nutritious and bursting with flavour!

You will need:

45g quinoa

1 beetroot peeled and grated

3inch of Cucumber (approx) grated

Half a large carrot peeled and grated

Large handful of spinach

Green Lentils - either dry or tinned (follow packet instructions)

Toasted sesame oil

Olive oil

Tamari

Salt and pepper

Tablespoon of homemade mayonnaise

Method:

First cook the quinoa. Pour into a pan with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, a drizzle of tamari and salt and pepper. Cover with boiling water so it's about an 1-2 inches deep. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for approx. 10 minutes - keep an eye on it. All the water should absorb, but don't allow it to dry out completely either. Once cooked, set aside to cool.

Wilt the spinach in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, season with pepper. You don't want to wilt it too much only slightly. Allow to cool slightly, you don't want it really hot, just warm.

Now arrange your rainbow bowl with the quinoa, cucumber, carrot, spinach, lentils and mayonnaise.

Enjoy!

**Top Tip** Did you know you can freeze lentils once they're cooked? I use dry lentils as you can buy in bulk and are often cheaper, which need soaking overnight for 12 hours and then cooking for around 40 minutes. This can be off-putting when you want to add them to a dish. So I regularly cook a batch of lentil, allow them to cool and then freeze in zip seal freezer bags. They defrost fairly quickly too!

#salad #quinoa #lentils