I don’t know about you, but the holiday season is starting to show on me big-time…

The sequence of holiday meals includes far too much food – more than the average person should eat, and the days off in between the holidays, in which we allow ourselves to indulge in a bit too many snacks and less exercise, brought with them the weight gain and worse – physical exhaustion and mental laziness.

On one hand, we know we exaggerated … with all of the food, and with the endless lounging around and the irregular sleeping hours; and on the other hand, most of us don’t have the strength or the will to get back to normal and healthy habits.

How lucky we are that the calendar gives us a deadline to end this craziness and return to normal… right? I don’t know, you decide

Anyway, in honor of the end of the long holiday season I decided it's finally time to publish the recipe for my famous quinoa salad.

My friend Alona taught me how to make this amazingggg salad about 3 years ago. She’s a food blogger – her blog is called “Balonim” and since she taught me how to make this salad, I can’t stop making it.

It's so simple and I have yet to come across someone who doesn’t love it {even people who stay away from quinoa, or any other food that sounds healthy 😉 }, so you must give it a chance!

Not only is it super easy to prepare it &  you can make a huge amount of it and keep in the refrigerator for about a week, it’s also super healthy and satisfying.

Let me tell you briefly why this salad is so healthy…

The quinoa was awarded the status of sacredness among the Incas 6000 years ago and returned to our health consciousness 3-4 years ago as a kind of super-grain {even though quinoa isn’t even a grain, but the seed of a plant called Chenopodium, but never mind… }.

There’s a reason it gained such a high status – it has many health benefits – it’s an excellent source of whole protein {excellent for vegetarians / vegans}, it’s full of fibers and is defined as an anti-diabetic food {recommended for adult diabetes}, has antioxidants, and much more…

Besides the quinoa, the salad has many different herbs {MANY antioxidants}, pomegranates / craisins {it’s important to buy the one with no additional white sugar!}, freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil {healthy fat }.

Anyway, cut the nonsense – buy the ingredients and get in the kitchen.

◄◄ My famous quinoa salad with herbs and pomegranates ►►

Preparation time – 15 minutes.

Cooking time – 20 minutes.

Quantity – 6 servings.

Ingredients –

• 1 cup quinoa.
• 1 large pomegranate / a handful of dried cranberries {craisins}.
• 1 package of coriander.
• 1 package of parsley.
• Half a package of mint.
• 1 large red onion.
• Juice from 1 lemon.
• 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.
• Salt and pepper.

Instructions –

1. In a small pot, heat up a cup of quinoa {some people prefer washing and straining it before to get rid of the bitterness, but personally, I don’t feel it}.
2. Add 2 cups of boiled water to the pot and bring to a boil.
3. Lower the heat to the lowest flame and cook for 20 minutes, until the water is fully absorbed. After cooking, place a double layer of paper towels on the pot and cover for about 10 minutes to get to the perfect texture.
4. Transfer the quinoa to a separate bowl until fully cooled.
5. In the meantime, chop the herbs and the red onion and place in a separate bowl.
6. Add the pomegranate seeds {or craisins} and the quinoa into the bowl.
7. Season with a lot of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
8. It’s recommended to prepare a day before serving {or at least 2-3 hours before}, because the flavors absorb best after some time in the fridge.
9. If necessary, add more seasoning and eat it 😉

If you enjoyed this, tell me about it in the comments and be kind to your friends and share it on Facebook {so they don’t ask you for the recipe the next time you make this salad 😉 }.