Carrot Slaw with Quinoa and Sesame Seeds is a healthy recipe for lunch or to serve with dinners. It's one of those naturally gluten free dishes that's great to make ahead. The dressing is made without mayonnaise, sweetened with a little honey, and can be spicy if you wish. Nice, sweet carrots are key to great flavour, and the quinoa gives a suggestion of nuttiness.
This is another one of those recipes that I first made years ago and have kept to make repeatedly for my family.
Who says eating gluten free needs to be expensive? There are lots - hundreds - of naturally gluten free foods! Let's not get caught up on breads, cakes, cookies, biscuits, and the like. Vegetables are delicious when prepared properly. Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables every day and see how good you'll feel!
Carrots are not expensive, at least they're certainly not where I live. Carrots grow easily and abundantly in backyard gardens, market gardens, and on farms. They keep well in cold storage, so they're available year round.
Health Benefits of Carrots
Carrots offer many health benefits. They are a great source of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fibre and seem to help prevent cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Do carrots help you see in the dark? Well, carrots are a good source of Vitamin A, and Vitamin A helps you to see in the dark. Vitamin A deficiencies are rare in the developed world, but it doesn't hurt to eat carrots.
This versatile vegetable is also a star in :
- Maple Glazed Carrots with Pecans
- Roasted Beets and Carrots
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Pineapple and Coconut
- Gluten Free Carrot Christmas Pudding with Sauce
Quinoa
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), is a very nutritious pseudo-cereal. Not technically a grain, it's actually a seed. Since we prepare it as we would a grain, we often tend to think of it that way. Quinoa is a rare plant that is actually considered a complete protein. One cup of cooked quinoa contains 8 grams of protein. That's a pretty good source!
How to Cook Quinoa
It's easy to cook quinoa in 15 to 20 minutes. Basically, you just bring twice as much water as dry quinoa to a boil and cook it until the water is absorbed, the seeds pop open and your quinoa becomes fluffy.
Kate, of Cookies and Kate has written a great post on how to cook perfect quinoa. I followed her method as I made mine for this recipe.
How to Make Carrot Slaw
Prepare the quinoa. Bring the dry quinoa and double the amount of water to a boil.
Allow the quinoa to cook until the water is absorbed.
When water is absorbed, remove from heat, cover, and let sit 5 minutes.
Stir the quinoa to fluff it up.
Meanwhile, grate the carrots.
Combine dressing ingredients in the bottom a a large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine.
Ingredients for This Recipe
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- gluten free Quinoa
- Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
- gluten free Rice Vinegar
Carrot Slaw with Quinoa and Sesame Seeds
Ingredients
- 3 cups carrots peeled and grated (about 4 medium carrots)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa ⅓ cup uncooked, rinsed
- 4 teaspoons gluten free soy sauce tamari
- 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- chili flakes optional
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- avocado to garnish
Instructions
- Simply combine all of the ingredients and chill your salad for two hours before serving.
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