Run Plant Based

Formerly The Raw Project - Running on a Healthy Vegan Diet

Tahini Quinoa & Quick Salad

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What’s really frustrating about this week is that even though it’s been busy, it seems to be going by slowly! So hooray for tomorrow being Friday! There’s still so much going on at work and I just feel like I need more time to catch my breath and catch up with my growing task list. I did get some time in the kitchen to create a new quinoa recipe – Creamy Tahini Quinoa.

Creamy Tahini Quinoa

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tbsp. tahini
  • 1 tbsp. grated ginger
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 1 cup chopped spinach
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in tahini. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then stir in ginger, soy sauce, dijon mustard, carrot, and spinach. Cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently. Serve and enjoy. Makes about 4 servings.

I admit, I cheated on the spinach.

I had to hit my freezer stash since I was out of fresh.

The quinoa came out great, tangy, creamy, and rich. The ginger and mustard added a nice zing and the spinach and carrot shreds added color and texture. Perfect fast and easy dinner after another draining day.

And today happens to be WTF Thursday where I have an odd combo of dwindling fresh ingredients in my fridge thanks to being too busy to shop and recipe plan. I threw together a fast salad of shredded jicama, chopped tomato, and avocado.

And a quick dressing by tossing an orange, small chuck of ginger, and walnuts into the Vitamix.

Together they made a fabulous, gooey mess.

And I took a queue from JL goes Vegan for fast cooking cauliflower to go with my salad since I was too fried to chop it into neat little florets. I just whacked the head into quarters.

Placed in a ceramic bowl and poured a little soy sauce over it.

Covered and microwaved for 10 minutes to steam and flavor the cauliflower.

It completed my odd Thursday dinner nicely for a little saltiness to go with the sweet salad.

The salad dressing was very thick and creamy with a nice amount of orange flavor that didn’t cross over into bitter.

But my lap buddy was frustrated there was nothing she wanted to beg for.

Comments

  1. the an orange, small chuck of ginger, and walnuts would be perfect. I love orange/ginger based dressings. I whisk OJ, ground ginger, EVOO or whatever else I have on hand and pour over lettuce. Yours looks amazing.

    Love JL’s tip. I steam veggies in the micro all the time. I mean, its a tool. I use it :)

    And i would have used frozen spinach too. No need to use fresh only to cook it and chop it really small. That’s what frozen is there for..ha!

    • Thanks, your dressing sounds awesome too. And so true on microwaves even though I don’t use it as much as I used to and am still nervous about putting plastic in it. :-P Agreed on frozen spinach, it’s great for fast smoothies too.

  2. Ooh, two of my favorite things, quinoa and tahini. I will definitely try this recipe out.
    And busy weeks that go by slowly, and you also feel like you get nothing done, are just the worst. I know exactly what you mean since I have 15 meetings this week! I think this is a record for me, one that I hope won’t get equaled or broken.

    • Wow, that’s a lot of meetings, so sorry! I can’t stand meeting heavy weeks because they take so much time away from getting other work done.

  5. You know what I find particularly wonderful about this post? Your quinoa dish is made up of exactly what I have left in my kitchen! We tried to hold off grocery shopping for 2 weeks this time around, and tomorrow is the big 2 week mark, so tonight I was thinking “What do I make, what do I make that will satisfy a hungry man?” And you posted exactly what I needed! Amazing! Love it! I’m obviously excited.

    Your salad dressing sounds great too! I love creamy thick dressings.

    I hope times ease up on your needed effort output soon! You certainly deserve a spa day or something wonderful like that :D