This is the first dish I cook in my studio as a student. It is a posh dish, but, at the same time, you only need a microwave to make this. It takes less than 10 minutes to make and that is great for many reasons. Za’tar is becoming one of my favourite spices and this is why I used it. For me it works great with the mushrooms and the tahini.

I used half of cooked quinoa packet to make a serving. You can use any type of mushrooms you have or use something else, like frozen peppers that can be easily defrosted and added to the salad. With this amount of mushrooms and pomegranate, this salad counts as 2 servings for the 5-a-day and it also contains very healthy fats from the tahini. The quinoa is known as a superfood due to its high protein content. This salad is very healthy too and filling because all of the ingredients have a high number of fibres too.

Ingredients for Quinoa warm salad, 1 serving:

– 125g red and white quinoa, cooked
– 150g mix of mushrooms: Shiitake, yellow and grey oyster
– 40g pomegranate seeds
– 2 tsp tahini
– Za’tar mix (herb with toasted sesame seeds and dried sumac)
– oil spray

Start by washing and chopping the mushrooms. Put them on a plate and in the microwave to cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile put the quinoa on another plate and fluff it with a fork. After the mushrooms cooked for 2 minutes, take the plate out, spray some oil on top, drain the water, and put them back in the microwave for another 2 minutes. Take the mushrooms out and put the quinoa in the microwave for 2 minutes or to the timing stated on the packaging.

When the quinoa is hot, take it out, mix it with the mushrooms. Drizzle the tahini on top, sprinkle as much Za’tar as you like over the salad. Toss the pomegranate seeds over the salad and the dish is now ready to be enjoyed.