Fat-Burning Spicy Quinoa Salad

This quinoa salad is a filling and nutritious lunch, while giving you a huge dose of protein and fiber!  It is great for on the go, and is delicious chilled.  Better yet, this recipe is packed with metabolism boosting ingredients to help you start burning calories naturally.  It may sound too good to be true, but there are actually some foods that can help spike your metabolism, trigger hormones that release fat, while also detoxing your body! Great news!

To fully activate the calories from every meal, add some heat! Naturally warming foods like cayenne pepper, ginger, basil, vinegar, and garlic have been shown to help increase the amount of calories your body burns!

One of my favorite natural calorie burners is grapefruit.  Grapefruit slightly lowers the insulin levels in the body.  This slightly decreased insulin level prevents the body from storing all the sugar as fat.  Also those lower insulin levels help curb appetite!

Lentils are packed full of healthy protein and quinoa is a protein powerhouse!  Fiber and protein play a big role in helping the body burn fat because they require extra effort for the body to digest.  This means that that while your body’s digestive system is working hard, it’s throwing extra calories into the furnace! Burn baby burn!

Enjoy this, and add as much cayenne as you wish!!

Ingredients for Salad

2 Cups Cooked Rainbow Quinoa

1 Cup Cooked Black Lentils

3 Tablespoons Goji Berries

3-5 Dried Apricots, sliced

3 Tablespoons Dried Currants

2-3 Tablespoons Slivered Almonds

1/2 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped (5-6 large leaves)

1/2 Small Avocado, chopped (optional)

Ingredients for Dressing

1/2 of a Grapefruit

1/2 Cup Pomegranate Juice, unsweetened

1 Tablespoon Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar

2-3 Medjool Dates, pitted

1 Garlic Clove

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne

Directions

1.  Blend all dressing ingredients in a high powered blender.  Set aside.

2.  Combine all salad ingredients except avocado in a mixing bowl.

3.  Mix the dressing and salad ingredients together.  Before serving mix in the sliced avocado!

*This can be made the night before and eaten on the go and chilled the next day! It will keep for 2-3 days in refrigerator.