Quinoa Salad In A Mason Jar

If you’re like me, then you probably know that feeling after lunch, when you suddenly feel the tiredness taking over you and then it’s hard for you to go back to work, or continue the rest of your chores. This usually happens because we eat bigger and heavier meals at noon and sometimes even with more carbs, which makes us more tired. If you relate to that, then this post is for you.

I’m not saying to completely change your eating habits, but sometimes it’s nice to have lighter lunches, ones that won’t make it hard for us to get back to our day easily.

This time I want to show you a quick and effective way for a slightly different lunch that has all kinds of benefits – quinoa salad in a jar.
Who is it for?
This recipe is suitable for those who want to slightly change their regular lunch, add more vegetables to lunch and also save time.
I know meal prep is a whole world, but here is something simpler, but still with prep that will save you some time.

So what do you need to make this beautiful salad?

♥ 1 cup of quinoa
♥ 2 cups of water
♥ 5-6 kale Stalks
♥ 2 cups spinach leaves
♥ 1 Red pepper
♥ 1 can of chickpeas
♥ Parsley
♥ Salt and pepper

This quantity should be enough for 3-4 small to medium size mason jars.

Let’s start with the quinoa preparation: Rinse a glass of quinoa well with a sieve until the water comes out clear. In a small pot, pot a little amount of oil and fry the quinoa for 2 minutes on high heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. We will add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, wait for a minute, lower the fire, mix and close the pot. Let the quinoa boil for 15-20 minutes. From time to time mix it until the quinoa is ready to your taste.
It’s time to point out that you can use any type of quinoa you want, this time I used regular quinoa.

While the quinoa is cooking, rinse well the kale without the stalks and fry them in a pan with a drop of oil over high heat.

We filter the chickpeas from the water in the can. Of course you can use fresh chickpeas and soak them before.

Wash the parsley leaves and chop slightly.

Cut the red pepper into small cubes.

When the quinoa is ready you can start assemblethe salad 🙂

I chose to use a mason jar, as it’s a great way to prepare the meal in advance and take it with me to work, rather than pouring from a large box to a small box.

At the bottom of the jar we will put the parsley, then we will put a good amount of quinoa. Over the quinoa we will put the chickpeas, spinach, red pepper and the kale for the top layer, so when you turn the jar into the plate, the base of the salad will be the parsley and quinoa and the kale will be on top.

For the dressing you can make tahini or use any other dressing you like.

I hope you liked this post, let me know if you have made this and if you have any ideas for upgrading this recipe, I would like to know 🙂