Three Bean Quinoa Salad

Start with the quinoa. Place the quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Let the quinoa rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

While your quinoa is cooking, combine the minced red onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let stand for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened slightly.

Drain and rinse beans. When it comes to the chickpeas, I like to remove their skins because I’m obsessive like that. To do this, place the drained chickpeas between two sheets of paper towel and rub lightly. This will loosen the skins, which you can then pick off and discard. (Yes, this is optional, but it’s not that hard, so you should probably just do it.)

Place the beans in a large mixing bowl with the cooked quinoa, parsley and scallions. Add the red onion mixture and mix until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate quinoa bean salad for at least 1/2 hour to let the flavors mingle.

Serve cold or at room temperature.