So many good things are happening today.

1) we’re spiralizing. 2) we’re eating a ginormous salad. 3) we’re basically eating a bowl of rainbows.

(just in quinoa power salad form)

This cheerful salad is my newest obsession. It’s got tons of tasty veggies and fluffy quinoa, and then it’s topped with coconut oil roasted chickpeas which act kind of like croutons but are SO much better. If you haven’t jumped on this crispy chickpea train yet…get ready. Total game changer.

But all that yumminess aside, this dressing = amazing.

Usually when we’re making a salad, tahini (and likely miso) finds its way into my dressing. It was about to happen again – I’m not kidding I had scooped tahini into the bowl already – but I realized you might not like it *quite* as much as I do. And sometimes you’ve just gotta change things up.

We didn’t venture too far off course though… rather than tahini, I decided to use almond butter.

I tend to lean on almond butter more for sweet things, so I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but it totally worked. Perhaps it’s partly because some of the veggies in this salad are on the sweeter side, but either way it was delish.

Reminds me almost of a pad thai type sauce, but with a more subtle flavor. Basically it tastes a little less Asian-inspired and is a more everyday type dressing. Perfection on top of these spiralized veggies.

Speaking of….let’s talk about these veggies.

Raved about my FAVE tool already – which I will say is now available on Amazon (woo hoo!) – so this time it’s all about the veggies.

When I first came up with the desire to make this salad, it was cold, wet and rainy out. I needed something cheerful. Something colorful. Something that would brighten up my plate and make me smile just looking at it.

Pasta makes me smile. Veggie pasta makes me light up in side. Spiralizing only made sense.

Here’s my rainbow color scheme:

• red bell peppers
• carrot
• yellow beet
• broccoli stems

I realize I’m missing a few of the colors of the rainbow, but this is what I could find at the grocery store and so I went with it. For your version? Totally feel free to change it up or mix and match your fave veggies. This salad is super customizeable.

Next up? We MUST talk about these chickpeas.

I’ve finally found a method that (in my personal opinion) can’t be beat. It’s only three ingredients, but it does take some patience as you wait for the beans to get super crunchy.

It starts with drained and rinsed chickpeas, which you pat dry and remove any skins. Actually, I prepped them in this video if you want to check it out. So once you have them read to go, I just scoop some coconut oil into my hands (if it’s soft, skip this step if it’s liquid already), and rub it all over the chickpeas. It’s like giving them a little, very gentle love massage.

Then you just sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 375ºF for about 45 minutes.

My reallll trick though is to turn the oven off after the 45 minutes and let those chickpeas just sit in the oven until they’re cool. I swear you’ll have the crunchiest chickpeas on the planet.

Best salad topping. EVER. yup.

Okay so this post turned out to be way longer than I expected, so I’m going to wrap it up and send you on your way. Hopefully in the direction of your spiralizer so you can make this fabulous quinoa salad Your gonna love, love, LOVE it!

Question…

Have you tried spiralizing before? What tool do you use? If you’re in the market for one, get The Inspiralizer. I’m not kidding is the best tool on the market AND it’s now available on Amazon with free shipping.

OH and also! Do you have a go-to salad dressing you can share with me? I need some ideas to change things up. We get stuck in these ruts and it would be great to get a little inspiration. You’re the best!

xo Alyssa

 

 

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