Quinoa with Carrots & Cabbage ~

I'm on a mission to use what I have on hand and not let food go to waste.  In doing so, I rummaged through our fridge and came up with carrots, cabbage and arugula.  Quinoa is always sitting pretty in a jar, and my little family never turns a nose up at this delicious seed-like healthy substance.  Instead of cooking the carrots and cabbage, I chose to dice them up and add them raw to the cooked quinoa.  I'm a fan of raw vegetables...the crunch and taste is as pure as you can get.  And when it came to tossing in a flavorful dressing, I kept that at a 'raw' minimum too.  With a lemon and garlic on hand {must-have winter essentials}, I knew olive oil would be my binding ingredient, and for an extra kick, a few tablespoons of shoyu sneaked in.  This is a really simple and easy recipe, and you could substitute most raw vegetables to your liking.  

Quinoa with Carrots & Cabbage

serves 4

1 cup of cooked quinoa

 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots

1 1/2 cups of red/purple cabbage chopped

2 cups of arugula

sea salt to taste

Dressing:

1 clove of garlic minced or crushed

1 lemon {juiced}

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2-3 Tablespoons shoyu

In a large bowl, mix quinoa, carrots and carrots.  Add sea salt to taste. Whisk together all ingredients of the dressing, mix and toss with quinoa and vegetables.  Either blanket bottom of bowl with large handful of arugula or add arugula to mix just before serving. 

[Reverie-Daydream Images]