Sprouted Quinoa Broccoli and White Bean Salad with Pesto Dressing

In the colder months I do rarely eat salad. It just seems to go against my nature. And since the temperatures suddenly dropped below 50, (last week it was 80-some in the afternoon) I prefer something warm right now. You can enjoy this both warm or cold, we had it warm as a main dish first, and then as a side cold from the fridge the next day. Taking advantage of late summer’s bounty of fresh broccoli and if you’re lucky enough to get some fresh shelling beans, that would probably be double awesome! I didn’t and it is fantastic no matter what. I do generally like to cook my own beans, instead of using canned. For a lot of the varieties, the flavor is incomparable, so be warned, once you start there is no going back… If you use canned beans, be sure to rinse them real good to get some of that excess salt off of them before using.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup red quinoa
  • 1/4 cup white quinoa
  • 2 cups chopped broccoli ( stems and florets)
  • 1 cup white kidney beans (cannellini)
  • 3 heaped tblsp homemade pesto (or a good store bought variety)
  • 5 tblsp Greek Feta dressing with Buttermilk

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…soaking the quinoa until it sprouts…

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Directions

  1. Rinse and then soak Quinoa in enough water to cover by 1/4″, cover, let stand overnight or up to 20 h(You could skip this step and just use the Quinoa plain out of the box)
  2. Pour Quinoa and water into a sauce pan and add water to just cover the sprouted grains ( If you skipped the sprouting, you most likely need a bit more water), bring to a boil and cook until tender and all water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
  3. In the meantime, steam the broccoli pieces in a seperate sauce pan until crisp-tender and bright green, drain and set aside
  4. When the Quinoa is just done (the white grains will look translucent) add the beans to heat them up.
  5. Mix the pesto and the greek feta dressing in a large bowl, add the quinoa and beans, and the broccoli, gently mix until the dressing is mixed in

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Enjoy hot or cold!

Serves 2 as a main, 4 if used as a side dish/salad

Yum!

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