Quinoa Salad with Lentils and Lemon Sumac dressing

So I might be a little late to try out this trendy superfood, but better late than never!

I first tried this recipe from my mum's Persiana and the first time it tasted really good, so I decided to re-create it at uni, this time using red and white quinoa directly from the pouch. Quick and easy to make this will be a nice, portable and extremely healthy lunch for me to take into uni.

Just put 150g lentils, 250g cooked quinoa, half a red pepper, some cherry tomatoes (chopped into quarters), 4-5 spring onions, a handful of coriander and parsley, a heaped tablespoon of sumac, juice of one lemon, and some olive oil into a bowl, season, stir and put into the fridge until you're ready to eat it! 

Do make sure you put it into the fridge for at least an hour before you eat it though, as it allows the flavours to work their way into the quinoa and the lentils!

A tip for using up the ingredients after...

As a lot of these ingredients have to be bought in bigger quantities, a helpful recipe might be the Chickpea and Spinach Curry that I posted earlier. This uses up the coriander and you can throw the leftover lentils in there as well!

Also if you don't have a use for any leftover herbs, put them in the freezer, and use them straight from frozen while cooking.

One extra tip! Especially for students who have parents who like to cook - if you want to try out new recipes but don't want to buy loads of new spices which you might not like or end up using again, raid your parents' cupboard! I created my own spice box, taking little portions of spices from my mums cupboard, putting them in little plastic shot glasses and covering with clingfilm - I now have my own spice box for just a pound from Poundland.