Recipe and images courtesy of Rebel Recipes (@rebelrecipes on Instagram)

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes

This is the kind of meal-prep salad you’ll actually look forward to eating. Fluffy quinoa and chickpeas are tossed with a colourful tray of sweet, caramelised roasted vegetables, fresh greens and plenty of herbs, then brought together with a creamy, zingy lemon-tahini dressing.

A generous scattering of toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds adds the all-important crunch. Packed with plants, fibre and protein, make a batch at the start of the week for easy, satisfying lunches.

Ingredients

  • 150g quinoa, rinsed
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1 courgette, chopped
  • 1 red onion, cut into wedges
  • 1 small sweet potato, diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 100g baby spinach or rocket
  • Large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • Large handful fresh mint, roughly chopped
  • 30g pumpkin seeds
  • 30g sunflower seeds

Lemon tahini dressing

  • 3 tbsp tahini
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 3–4 tbsp water
  • Pinch of sea salt

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
  2. Spread the peppers, courgette, red onion and sweet potato over a large roasting tray. Drizzle with the olive oil, scatter over the cumin and smoked paprika and season generously.
  3. Toss everything together and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning once, until tender and caramelised around the edges.
  4. Meanwhile, add the quinoa and vegetable stock to a saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 12–15 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, cover for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and leave to cool slightly.
  5. Toast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan for 2–3 minutes until fragrant.
  6. Whisk the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, garlic and water together until creamy and pourable. Season to taste.
  7. Add the quinoa, chickpeas, roasted vegetables, greens and fresh herbs to a large serving bowl and gently toss together.
  8. Drizzle generously with the lemon tahini and scatter over the toasted seeds.

Tip: For meal prep, divide between four containers and keep the dressing and toasted seeds separately until ready to eat.