Friday, August 5, 2016

A quick, easy and delicious quinoa salad!

 Anyone who knows me knows that I love salad. There’s a running joke in my family where I’m known as “more of a salad girl”, because I once said that I would prefer a salad over an ice cream Sundae. And, I truly mean that—not because it’s a healthier choice, but truly because I really love salads. Macaroni salad, potato salad, Greek salad, ranch salad, fattoush, tabbouli—if it’s a salad, add it to my list of favorite things. My most recent salad favorite is a quinoa salad!




 Last year, during my student teaching internship (yes, everything happened during my internship), I was still nursing and had to pack a nutritious lunch every day. One day my sister stopped by and dropped off this Tupperware filled with what she called quinoa salad. I’m not that big on quinoa, I feel it has a bland taste. However, with added lemon, salt and olive oil; it became something I could work with. I began experimenting with this salad and added some veggies and extra seasoning, and now it is probably one of my favorite lunches! It’s super easy to make and if you make a larger amount at the start of your work week; it should last you a good three to four days. I thought I’d share this simple recipe with you, and I hope you find it as delicious as I do!

Ingredients:
1 C Quinoa
1 or 1 ½ small lemon (for freshly squeezed lemon juice)
2 tsp of Tuscan house Italian dressing
½ tsp of salt
½ tsp of sumac
1 tsp of zaatar
About (maybe even less) ¼ C of olive oil
1 tomato (chopped)
1 small red onion (chopped)
Some crumbled feta cheese
curled parsley (chopped)

Directions:
1. Cook the quinoa as directed (usually it’s 2 cups of water per 1 cup quinoa) and let cool in a large bowl.
2. Add feta, tomato, parsley, red onion to the cooked quinoa.
3. Add salt, sumac, zaatar.
4. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian dressing in a small bowl and mix well.
5. Pour dressing over the quinoa salad and mix well.

You can add more salt, olive oil or lemon as desired. This salad is colorful, healthy and can be served for a picnic, a park day, a pool party or lunch time at work!


Let me know what your thoughts in the comment section! Enjoy!

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