Quinoa Salad with Chili Curry Roasted Cauliflower

Now that school is back in full swing, things are quite a bit busier than they were during the lazy days of summer. The Kid has marching band practice just about every day after school and then there is homework on top of that. There isn’t much time to spend making dinner so I frequently turn to salads to make meal making much simpler.

Salads can get boring pretty quickly if you stick to the same things over and over, so I like to mix it up a bit and get creative. No boring croutons for us. We go a different route. I also like to use unexpected ingredients and change them frequently so the salad combos are endless. I’ve been using these cute little heads of artisan lettuce that I got at the grocery store instead of romaine or iceberg (gah, no!).

Quinoa Salad with Chili Curry Roasted Cauliflower 

• 1 cup (168g) uncooked quinoa
• 6 cups (170g) lettuce, washed and chopped
• 4 cups (400g) chili curry roasted cauliflower, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup (200g) sliced cucumber
• 16 oz grilled chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 4 oz (112g) feta cheese, cubed

Prepare your quinoa according to package directions. Cool slightly before using so your lettuce doesn’t wilt. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Divide equally onto 4 plates.

Makes 4 servings at approximately 413 calories – 35g protein, 39g carbs, and 13g fat.

You can easily change this to meet your needs by using a smaller amount of quinoa, less feta, different cheese, different protein. I ran out of feta the next day so I made it without cheese and I used half the quinoa to lower the calories a bit.

I like to make grains like quinoa, couscous, and rice in larger batches when I make them. I keep some in a plastic container in the fridge and put some away in the freezer for later. That way you’re steaming it once but you can use it in different meals like salads, wraps, bowls.

I do the same with chicken and veggies too. Slice and dice once, grill once. You’ll be glad that you can munch on cucumber slices when you walk in the door one night starving. Much better than eating dinner before you even get dinner on the table. I’ve been using the leftover chili curry cauliflower all week too. The spice from it was enough that I didn’t even need to put dressing on this salad. Can’t beat that! 🙂