Yummy Salads

I made the one below for a barbecue yesterday that went down really well. It was very simple to make, using a bunch of veg and herbs I had around.

Quinoa salad with feta, asparagus and avocado
Serves 6 as a side, 223 cals per serving

1 cup of quinoa, dry weight (I used red quinoa but I don't think the variety really matters nutritionwise, it just looks pretty)
1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
1 medium avocado (palm-sized), skinned and cut into cubes (about 1 cup)
1/2 pack of feta cheese, cubed (about 100g, or 3/4 cup)
1 thumb-sized red chilli, seeds removed and chopped (medium-mildish heat)
4 scallions/spring onions, white and green parts, finely chopped
about 3 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped finely

For the dressing, I just mixed the juice of 2 limes with an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tbsp oil) with salt & pepper to taste.

To cook the quinoa, put it in a saucepan with a lid - 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa (so 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa). Bring it to a boil, then cover, lower the heat as low as it can go and simmer about 20 mins until all the water is absorbed. Then just switch it off and let it stand with the cover and cool. Meanwhile, cook the asparagus (2 mins in the microwave with a splash of water in a loosely covered container), chop up the rest of your veg and cheese, and chillies if you're using them.

I wait for the quinoa to cool to just above room temp before mixing all the ingredients in, so the heat from the quinoa doesn't cook the fresh mint or scallions. Those who are more organised than me would probably cook it the day before.

You could use other herbs instead of mint - cilantro/coriander would work nicely. I used mint because I have a plant going crazy so a lot of my recipes have mint in them at the moment. I think it goes really well with feta.