Summer Quinoa Salad

Summer is here and with it comes cookouts, picnics, bonfires and barbeques. To break up the monotony of your traditional mayo/salad dressing salads at the table, I STRONGLY encourage you to try Summer Quinoa Salad.

[Side note: Every time I see the word "quinoa," I think of the one football commercial where the guy says, "What's quinoa?" but pronounces it "kwee-no". It's really pronounced keen-wa. Haven't seen it? Loot it up, it's a good one.]

I stumbled upon this recipe when I was given a fairly large bag of quinoa from my sister, Juliet. She and her family were moving out of the country and needed to get rid of her well stocked pantry. I honestly didn't know what to make with the quinoa. I knew you cooked it similar to rice and that it was good for you. (It is also gluten free, as is this recipe!) On the back of the bag it had this recipe, so I gave it a try. This particular salad is really fun to me. It has a basic oil/vinegar/lemon juice dressing with the quinoa, but you put in whatever vegetables and/or fruits- yes fruits! you have on hand. This salad can be different every time you make it. All right, I'll stop rambling and give you the recipe already!

Summer Quinoa Salad
2 cups water (or you can use veg or chicken stock)
1 cup quinoa
4 cups combined vegetables or fruits such as:
Fresh raw diced or sliced cucumber, tomatoes, stone fruit, peppers, mushrooms, or grapes and/or lightly steamed vegetables such as broccoli or asparagus spears, sliced zucchini, green beans, pea pods, corn kernels, peas, squash or pumpkin dices
1/2 large red onion, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon wine or sherry vinegar
3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
And if you have it fresh chopped parsley or cilantro

Put quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and cover. Let cook for about 15 minutes, allow to cool. Combine all vegetables, onion, lemon juice, vinegar, oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss vegetables with cooled quinoa and add almonds and herbs. Chill.
Makes about 6 cups.

I'm looking forward to adding fresh vegetables from the garden to this salad. At the peak of Summer this salad can get very colorful! The quinoa I have is Nature's Earthly Choice Organic Quinoa, which doesn't require any soaking or rinsing. As with many oil and vinegar based salads, this one gets better the longer it is in the refrigerator, so I recommend making it the day before serving. Enjoy! <3