Spring quinoa salad with asparagus and slow roasted tomato

This quinoa salad with slow roasted tomato, asparagus and pistachios is a delicious spring salad.

You know it’s spring when you see blossom, lambs, spring flowers and asparagus!!  At the market this weekend I bought a lovely bag of tender asparagus along with some vine tomatoes and felt inspired to create a fresh salad with quinoa.

I slow roasted my tomatoes and asparagus and made this tasty salad.  It’s perfect as a side dish for dinner and also for a yummy lunch.

Quinoa is a nutrient rich gluten free grain (well it’s technically not a grain, it’s a seed).  It’s a good source of phosphorus and is high in iron and magnesium.  Quinoa is also source of zinc, folate, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin E.

Recipe for Spring Quinoa with Slow Roasted Tomato & Asparagus

1 cup of quinoa
2 cups of vegetable stock
8 small tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into pieces.
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 small red onion
1/4 cup pistachio nuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.

Rinse the quinoa and drain. Place the quinoa and stock in a pot and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat and allow to simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all the water.  This takes around 15 minutes.   Once cooked place the quinoa in a bowl.

While the quinoa is simmering, place the tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Set a timer and bake for 15  minutes.   When the timer rings, add the asparagus and cook both the tomatoes and asparagus for 10 minutes.

Take the quinoa and mix through the parsley, red onion, pistachio nuts and the tomato and asparagus.

Serve with some steamed vegetables and salmon or steak for a delicious, filling meal.