Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad

Here is another easy quinoa salad, perfect for the upcoming fall and winter. I really like this salad warm, eaten on its own or as a side dish, or even sprinkled over the top of a green salad. I originally intended to make quinoa cakes with this recipe a couple of months ago, but had a hard time keeping them held together, so I omitted some of the ingredients (eggs, breadcrumbs, etc) included for forming the patties, and made a warm salad instead.  

I am still working on figuring out the right ratio of egg and breadcrumbs for making the perfect quinoa cakes.  If you have found a good way to make them without them easily falling apart, I would love to hear what you do!

Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad

Makes ~8 servings (1/2 cup each)

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups grated sweet potato (~1 medium sweet potato)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in saucepan and add quinoa. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 14 minutes. Drain any excess water.

2. While quinoa is cooking, peel and shred sweet potato.

3. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Mix in sweet potato and all spices and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. 

4. Combine quinoa and sweet potato mixture in a large mixing bowl and mix together. 

5. Serve and enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from thekitchenpaper.com)

What are the nutritional benefits of this salad? Quinoa is a whole grain and is a complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 essential amino acids. Quinoa is also a great source if fiber, iron, lysine, magnesium, riboflavin and manganese.   Sweet potatoes are very high in vitamin A (one cup provides over 400% of the daily value!) and are a great source of vitamins C and B6, and the mineral manganese.