Quinoa Salad

I've had a lot of requests for some quinoa recipes so here's a quick, easy and healthy one.  For those of you who don't know what quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is it is a whole grain that is gluten free and high in protein.  It's a great alternative to pasta or rice and cooks just as quickly.  I love making cold salads with quinoa so here's one version.

Ingredients

• Cold cooked quinoa
• Sweet bell peppers
• Red onion
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Balsamic vinaigrette 
• Fresh herbs:  Basil, chives and parsley

Preparation

Cook the quinoa according to the directions.  I usually make 1/4 cup of dry quinoa per serving.  Quinoa is made just like rice in a 1 part dry quinoa to 2 parts water or chicken broth.  You can either make the quinoa the day before and refrigerate it or run it under cold water after it is cooked to cool it down quicker.

 Chop up all of your veggies and herbs into whatever size piece you like.  I usually remove the inside of the tomatoes before I chop them but you can leave them intact.  I had fresh herbs available but it's not necessary if you don't have any. 

 

Mix your quinoa, veggies, herbs and dressing together and you're done!  Keep the salad refrigerated in between meals.

 

 

Just like pasta salads, there are so many combinations for quinoa salad.  You can add whatever veggies (or meat/fish!) that you have in the fridge along with your favorite salad dressing.

Happy Cooking!

Jenny