Autumn Pumpkin Quinoa Salad

As the weather gets a little colder, there’s a temptation to move to only cooked foods. However, a few salads here and there still have their place, especially for lunches-on-the-go, barbeques, or as a side dish to a warming winter’s meal like a lamb roast or slow cooked beef.

Here’s a simple wholefood quinoa salad that’s gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, and won’t make you feel chilly on the inside!

Ingredients:

300g pumpkin, cut into cubes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup quinoa (I’ve used white, but any colour will do)

2 cups chicken bone broth (or veggie stock)

1 cup baby spinach leaves

1 tbsp sesame seeds

3 tsp tamari

1 1/2 tsp honey

2 tsp tahini

1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice

Let’s do this!

Using a fine strainer, rinse the quinoa well under running water.

Add the quinoa to a medium saucepan with the chicken broth. Bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat, covered for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to rest with the lid on for another 5 minutes.

Toss the cooked quinoa and pumpkin together in a bowl with the spinach leaves and sesame seeds.

To make the dressing, combine the tamari, honey, tahini and lemon juice. Drizzle on top of salad and serve.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as a main meal.