I follow a number of Thermomix bloggers & ‘ThermOMG’ has posted a list of dishes that all Thermomix owners MUST make.  This salad is from Quirky Cooking & there are a few more of her dishes on the list.  I made this for dinner this week & as you can see from my photo it looks delicious!  My husband & I had it for dinner one night & then I ate it for lunch, 2 days in a row.  The beauty of this dish, is that you cook everything at once in layers, which saves time & energy.  I’ve added my own spin to the dressing, but you can really dress it with whatever you like.  I also drizzled over a little ‘Vino Cotto’ for extra flavour.  You can also add anything you like to the salad – smoked salmon, tuna, salmon, flaked trout, nuts, currants, seeds…..the list is endless!

Salad Ingredients:
250-300g Quinoa
800g boiling water
4 eggs
4 chicken thighs, cubed
250g pumpkin, chopped
few handfuls baby spinach
150g semi dried tomatoes
150g kalamata olives, pitted
100g feta
pine nuts or sesame seeds to garnish

Dressing Ingredients:
20g olive oil
10g balsamic vinegar
10g maple syrup
2 tsp seeded mustard
juice of 1 lemon
salt & pepper

Salad Method:

1) Weigh boiling water into TM bowl.  Insert rice basket, re-set scales & weigh Quinoa into basket.  Place eggs on top of Quinoa.

2) Line the Varoma tray with baking paper & add chicken pieces.  Add pumpkin to the Varoma dish.

3) Place Lid on TM bowl & set Varoma into position.  Cook for 20 minutes/Varoma temperature/speed 4.  Check that the chicken is cooked & cook additional few minutes if required.

4) Once cooked, carefully remove eggs from the rice basket using tongs (as they will be hot)!

This is what the quinoa & eggs look like after cooking.

5) Place baby spinach leaves into a large salad bowl.   Add cooked chicken, pumpkin & quinoa.  Add all other ingredients, including peeled & quartered boiled eggs.

6) Pour dressing over salad ingredients & gently toss to combine.  I use disposable food handling gloves & gently toss the salad with my hands.  Garnish with pine nuts or sesame seeds.

Dressing Method:

Empty excess water from TM bowl, but do not wash it.  Add all ingredients to bowl & mix 6 seconds/speed 6.

Source: Quirky Cooking

Notes:

I always steam my meat on the Varoma tray, lined with a piece of baking paper.  The baking paper makes for very little washing up (everything just needs a rinse).