Herby Quinoa Salad with Roasted Eggplant and Chickpeas

This Herby Quinoa Salad with roasted eggplant and chickpeas from Hello Fresh is delicious.  There are many quinoa salad recipes out there and they all seem to taste alike.  There is something unique about this one.  Maybe it is the mix of mint and cilantro.  Although the two herbs go great together, I usually used one or the other.  This may not seem very kid friendly but my 8 year old son loved it.  Really, he had 3 servings. 

 

Ingredients (2-3 as main meal or 6 as a side)

1 C Quinoa

1 eggplant

10 grape tomatoes

1 lemon

½ red onion

½ oz cilantro

½ oz Mint

1 can Chickpeas

3 Tbs olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cut eggplant into ½ inch cubes.  Finely chop half the red onion, halve the tomatoes, juice the lemon, and coarsely chop the cilantro and mint.  Drain and rinse the chickpeas. 

 

 

Toss the eggplant with 1 Tbs of oil.  Season with salt and pepper and lay out on a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, mixing half way.

 

 

While the eggplant is in the oven, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer for a few minutes (if your quinoa is not pre-rinse).  Add quinoa to a pot with 2 cups of water (I used vegetable stock) and a pinch of water if not using stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

 

As the quinoa is simmering, toss the chickpeas with the red onion and 2 Tbs of olive oil.  Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside to absorb the flavor.

 

When the quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork and put it in a large bowl.  Toss in the eggplant, tomatoes, cilantro and mint.  Mix well.  Add the chickpea/red onion mix with the dressing. 

This salad is served warm but it is equally good as a cold salad.  The only thing I would do different next time is add just a small crumble of feta cheese and perhaps a few chopped kalamata olives. 

You probably heard that Quinoa is a healthy food to eat.  It is one of the most protein-rich foods we can eat and it is a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids.  There are many other benefits to quinoa:

Quinoa contains almost twice as much fiber as most other grains.  Actually, Quinoa is not a grain, it is a seed but we refer to it as a grain.  It has iron and other vitamins and minerals and antioxidants.

This is a delicious and satisfying meatless Monday meal or you can use it as a side!