Roasted baby carrot, leek and quinoa salad

ingredients

• Roasted baby carrot, leek and quinoa salad

  • 1 cup quinoa, soaked overnight in cold water then drained (if possible)
  • 1 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 bunch baby carrots
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • sea salt
  • 2 medium leeks, finely sliced
  • 2 clove garlic, finely chopped

• Dressing

  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard*
  • 1 teaspoon honey or brown rice syrup
  • juice 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

method

• • 1

    Preheat oven to 200°C. Bring cold water (use only 1 cup water if you’ve soaked the quinoa overnight) to the boil in a saucepan.

  • 2

    Add quinoa, cover with a lid and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from heat, leave the lid on and set aside to steam for 5 minutes before fluffing up with a fork. Transfer to a large bowl.

  • 3

    While quinoa is cooking, trim all but 1cm off the tops of the baby carrots and slice in half if large. Transfer to an oven tray, drizzle with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and give them a good mix before popping into the oven to roast for 25-30 minutes, making sure you turn them at least once during cooking.

  • 4

    Heat remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium frying pan, add sliced leeks and garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring often for 8-10 minutes, or until the leeks are super tender and starting to caramelise. Remove from the heat and stir through the quinoa.

  • 5

    In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard and honey, add lemon juice and whisk, then drizzle in olive oil and whisk to form a smooth dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, pour over the quinoa and stir through, along with the parsley.

  • 6

    To serve, either stir the carrots through the quinoa salad and serve, or divide the quinoa between plates and top with the roasted carrots.

notes

• Check label if eating gluten-free. - Try to soak quinoa in cold water the night before using, to improve digestibility, but if you forget, don’t worry. If you have any leftovers, they keep well in the fridge for two or three days.