When you make a good meal with healthy stuff, everyone at home loves it. This dish mixes different textures and flavors. It’s an easy lunch that fills you up so you won’t want snacks for a long time. This quinoa with roasted carrots, chickpeas, and halloumi cheese is a perfect lunch pick.

Halloumi cheese is delicious when fried, especially if you eat it while it’s still hot. For a vegan version, you can try tofu. To stop the cheese from spreading over the pan, it must be cold (fresh from the fridge), and the pan must be hot.

Quinoa and chickpeas in this salad give you lots of protein and fiber. Carrots and spinach add juiciness, and cumin helps digestion.

If you don’t have quinoa, you can use rice instead. You can swap carrots with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, or any other veggies you like baked. If you don’t like sweet tastes in salads, switch orange juice for lemon juice.

Ingredients

For 2-3 servings:

• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp. spoon of olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 can canned chickpeas (375 g)
• 100 g spinach leaves
• juice and zest of 1/2 orange
• 100 g quinoa
• 200 ml water
• 150g halloumi cheese, chopped

Instructions

• Toss chopped carrots in a baking dish with cumin, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes.
• Add the chickpeas, orange juice, and zest to the baked carrots. Stir and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Rinse and cook the quinoa.
• Fry the sliced halloumi in a hot pan until golden brown, for about 1-2 minutes on each side.
• Mix the cooked quinoa with the roasted chickpeas, carrots, and spinach. Add a bit more orange or lemon juice for extra juiciness. Top with the fried halloumi and enjoy your meal🖖🏼

Photo credits: salatshop.ru