Rainbow Thai Quinoa

I've been eying this recipe for the loooooooooongest time, and finally had the opportunity to make it myself last Sunday. Cashews? Colourful veggies? Peanut butter dressing? Sounds like it was like designed for moi :'D

Rainbow of ingredients for Rainbow Thai Quinoa

How can this plate of fresh ingredients not bring a smile to your face? It's the definition of gorgeous! The only colour absent from my plate is yellow, which could easily be filled with some yellow bell pepper, corn, squash, or zucchini. Any dish with a whole rainbow of fresh produce in it has to be healthy for you.

Making this dish (or it could be called a salad, I suppose) is super quick and simple. Minimal cooking and lots of chop, chop, chopping! Most of the time is spent cutting up vegetables and herbs. To speed up the already short process even more, cook the quinoa ahead of time. I cooked mine in the morning before heading off to church, and threw the whole dish together for lunch when I arrived home. Easy and delicious, what more could a lazy chef like me ask for?

Rainbow Thai Quinoa ready to eat!

Although the peanut butter didn't dominate the dish like I had expected, it added the perfect hint of nuttiness and richness. I like everything sweet, so I adjusted the sauce a twinge with more honey. This quinoa dish has so many dimensions, and is a party for the taste buds to try and decipher all the components. Sometimes a little sweet, sometimes a little spicy (raw onions!), sometimes a punch of cilantro... I could eat bowls and bowls of this stuff. For lunch, for dinner, for snack..okay but maybe not breakfast. That's when I need my pancakes.

I highly recommend you push this dish to the top of your 'recipe bucketlist' because it is mind-blowing-ly delicious. This Rainbow Thai Quinoa tastes wonderful slightly warm but also great cold from the fridge. Meaning it make great left-overs, if there is any.

Rainbow Thai Quinoa

Very lightly adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Yield: 4 really large servings

Ingredients

For quinoa

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1½ cup chicken or vegetable stock (or water + crumbled stock cube)
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced*
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 green onion, diced
• 3 handfuls of roasted unsalted cashews
• A few squeezes of fresh lime juice, optional

For dressing

• ¼ cup all natural peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave
• A dash or vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Water to thin, if necessary
• A few cracks of freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Cook quinoa with stock in a medium pot according to package. I brought mine to a boil over high heat, then turned down the heat to the lowest and cooked for 15 minutes. Let cooked quinoa sit with lid covered for 5 minutes. Add the baby spinach with quinoa and lightly mix together in pot. Cover pot with lid; the residual heat and steam will wilt the spinach.
2. Cut, shred, and chop all vegetables.
3. To prepare the dressing, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl or custard cup. Microwave for 10 seconds or so to melt honey and mix thoroughly. Add water by the tablespoon until dressing reaches desired consistency. A viscous but steady stream flowing off spoon is good.
4. Add sauce to quinoa and spinach mixture, gently mix to combine. 
5. Pour dressed quinoa into a large mixing bowl, add all vegetables and nuts, and mix until combined. Serve with a few squeezes of lime juice if desired.

*If your stomach is very sensitive to acidic foods, omit or cook onion. Or replace with shredded purple cabbage.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡