Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Quinoa Summer Salad




Happy Summer! It is getting so hot outside... it's time to cool things down a bit.  I've made a lot of warm quinoa dishes, so I decided to create a cold quinoa salad that I call a Quinoa Summer Salad.  The great part about this salad is that you can throw virtually anything you have sitting in your fridge in and it'll taste great.  Add a red pepper or some cherry tomatoes.. make it your own.  But first, here's my recipe:

What to Gather:
  • 1 Cup Quinoa
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 2 Small Cucumbers (about 6 inches long each)
  • 1 Bell Pepper
  • 1/2 Small Onion Chopped
  • 1/2 Cup (or more) Black Olives
  • 1/4 Cup Feta Cheese
  • 2 tsp Minced Garlic
  • 4 TBSP Vinaigrette 

What to Do:

  •  Before starting this salad, make the quinoa ahead of time if possible.  Since this is a cold dish the quinoa needs time to sit in the fridge for a while to cool (or you can put it over an ice bath if you don't have enough time).  Cook the quinoa in the 2 cups water, bring to a boil then reduce heat for 15 minutes.  Once done, cool the quinoa.  Add to the salad.
  • Cut the small cucumbers long-wise in half, turn 180*, then long-wise in half again.  By now you'll have 2 cuts in the cucumber - finish cutting the cucumbers creating 4 pieces per cut by cutting down long-ways as usual.  You should have 4 pieces of a pie cut out with each cut. [Now I feel like I'm on Food Network's Next Food Network Star trying to explain how to cut these for the salad haha]
  • Cut the bell pepper and the onion into small squares, place in salad
  • Cut the black olives in half, place in salad
  • Top with feta cheese (you can add more if you like!) I use:
  • Add the minced garlic
  • Add the vinaigrette - I use the All Natural House Vinaigrette from Aldi's:
  • Now, mix all together and serve!  [to note: this dish is best served after sitting overnight!]
Enjoy! :)

With Love,
Mel

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