This lovely salad it delicious and quite filling. We did not add any non-dairy cheese as we felt this was enough as it is.
Serving Size: 4
Ingredients:
for the salad:
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 2 cups fresh fava beans, shelled and peeled
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves (about 4 ounces)
- handful of almonds slivers as garnish
for the dressing:
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or homemade fruit vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons mild mustard
- splash maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- dash black pepper
Directions:
- Wash the quinoa with cold water to remove the bitter taste of the oils.
- Place the quinoa in a small sauce pan with 1¼ cups of water and a pinch of salt.
- Bring the water to boil, then turn down to a simmer to cook the quinoa.
- Once the quinoa is cooked and most of the water has been evaporated, remove from the heat, place a lid on the pot and allow the quinoa to further swell.
- Prepare the fava beans by removing them from the pod, then blanching and removing the skins.
- Next bring a medium pot of lightly salted water and blanch the beans once more.
- Once they float to the top of the water, you can drain off the water and place then beans in icy water to stop the cooking process.
- Bring a pot or deep pan of lightly salted water to boil.
- Remove the woody ends of the asparagus and place the asparagus in the boiling water to cook.
- Once the asparagus are al dente, remove from the water and place in icy water to stop the cooking process.
- When the asparagus are cool enough to handle, chop to bite sized pieces.
- Wash the spinach and spin dry. Make sure to remove any large stems.
- Make the dressing by placing the olive oil, vinegar, minced garlic, lemon juice, and maple syrup in a bowl.
- Whisk to blend. Add the mustard, salt and pepper and whisk again.
- Season to taste.
- Divide the spinach onto 4 individual salad plates.
- Place the fava beans, quinoa and cut asparagus in a large bowl and gently toss to mix.
- Place a generous amount of the salad on each prepared plate.
- Drizzle some of the dressing on top and place the rest of the dressing in a carafe for individuals to help them selves.
- We garnished the salad with a few almond slivers sprinkled on top of each salad.
