Quinoa Pumpkin Salad

So it's getting colder and colder in the Netherlands. We are now at that point that it starts to freeze at night! So my body needs a lot more energy to stay warm, meaning my metabolism speeds up and I need more nutrients during the day! So just a salad (even if it's a big salad full of healthy products) just isn't enough anymore. My solution is to add quinoa, rice or couscous to a salad. So on Sunday's from now on I will also cook one of these products so I can add them to salads during the week. You can save these up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Today it's cooked quinoa with some left over roasted pumpkin from this weekend's pumpkin soup and chickpeas.

Chickpeas are protein-rich legumes. they are perfect for vegetarians as they are a good substitute for meat. Since quinoa is also rich in protein this is a high protein lunch. I also added an egg because otherwise I had to throw it away but based on the nutrients in this salad this was unnecessary. Other benefits of chickpeas for our health are that they are relatively low in calories, they don't contain any saturated fats (which are the unhealthy ones!) and they are a great source of dietary fibers. So they are excellent for me since they help maintain a good blood sugar level!

The ingredients for 1 serving:

• Pre-cooked quinoa (about 50-75 grams)
• Left over roasted pumpkin
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1/2 can chickpeas (75 gr)
• 1 spring onion
• 1 handful corn salad
• 1 egg (optional)
• Juice of half a lime

Directions:

1. Heat the pumpkin cubes in your microwave. Cut the cucumber, spring onion and cherry tomatoes and mix with the other ingredients on a plate. Put the egg on the side. Mix in the pumpkin and if you're ready to eat sprinkle over the lime juice!

Enjoy!