Quinoa Chicken Salad With Orange Balsamic Dressing

Name: Thermomix recipe: Quinoa Chicken Salad With Orange Balsamic Dressing
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 80 Grams quinoa, rinsed; 1 Litre water for steaming; 2 - 3 chicken breast fillets; Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) as needed; 3 spring onions sliced; 2 Handfuls mixed fresh green herbs; 2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced; 1 Handful dried cranberries (craisins) or dried cherries; 1 Handful pine nuts, toasted; pink salt flakes to taste; Salad greens of choice; 1 Tin chick peas drained; 1 orange, peeled and segmented; 1 orange, zest and juice; 40 Grams balsamic vinegar; 1/2 Teaspoon ground cumin; 1 Teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 Teaspoon all spice; 1 Pinch pink salt flakes; 80 Grams Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Make on Fresco

Serves 4 Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Rated: Print

When summer hits in Australia, salads are the only way to go. Filling up hollow legs can be a problem for mums everywhere especially when they are swimming a lot, everyone gets so much hungrier! Salad doesn't always do the trick. SO we add grains or potatoes! In this case, quinoa, which is pretty tasteless in it's own right, but if you go hard with the dressing you won't notice. (Yes, it is a filler but it also has nutritional benefits, so don't give up on me entirely just yet!)

Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain sufficient amounts of all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants.

Winning! Rinse well and steam as you do rice in most instances and serve as you would rice in most cases.

Go check out this Quinoa Lasagne recipe for something entirely different. It is delish!

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Need

The Salad
80 Grams quinoa, rinsed
1 Litre water for steaming
2 - 3 chicken breast fillets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) as needed BUY
3 spring onions sliced
2 Handfuls mixed fresh green herbs
2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 Handful dried cranberries (craisins) or dried cherries
1 Handful pine nuts, toasted
pink salt flakes to taste BUY
Salad greens of choice
1 Tin chick peas drained
1 orange, peeled and segmented
Orange Balsamic Dressing
1 orange, zest and juice
40 Grams balsamic vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon ground cumin
1 Teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Teaspoon all spice
1 Pinch pink salt flakes BUY
80 Grams Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) BUY

Do

1: Place chicken breasts into a lined Varoma dish.
2: Rinse quinoa in simmering basket and place with water into Thermomix bowl. Insert basket, set Varoma dish in position and steam 20 min/100ºC/speed 3. Check that chicken is cooked through.
3: Set quinoa aside to cool.
4: Char grill chicken breast fillets on a grill pan, brushed with EVOO and on a high heat until just seared. Rest before slicing.
5: Place all ingredients except chicken and quinoa into large salad bowl while you make the dressing.
6: To make dressing place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 10. Pour dressing over quinoa and let rest for 10 minutes before mixing quinoa in the salad.
7: Serve dressed salad with chicken slices on top. Can be served warm or cold.

Serve immediately with chicken slices on top.

Tenina Holder is a wife, mother of five and grandmother of eight, who started cooking in the olden days before Thermomix was even a thing.

Tenina has become the premium go to source for all Thermomix expertise and of course fresh and easy recipes that work. Her cooking classes and foodie trips are sold out in literally hours, her cookbooks appear on the Australian best seller lists and her social reach is in the millions. Her Insider Club is the most fun you can have with a Thermomix and you really should join her! She believes chocolate, butter and salt are health foods. Her food positivity mantra is, eat everything, just not all at once!