Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing

This is an easy interesting salad. 

Make it as a side for your family dinner or for a take-a-long for  outdoor parties, picnic, or get togethers. 

If you are not familiar with quinoa, it is time to start using it. It is a highly nutritious type of  "seed " that is a rich source of protein, fiber, and nutrients. It cooks up like a grain, is gluten free, and tastes great!  Pronounced "keen-wah", it was originally grown in South America in the Andes Mountain area.  It was brought to the United States in the 1980's and cultivated in California. 

 

Quinoa can be purchased in any health food store, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or in the health food isle in most supermarkets. It may come in a bag like rice or a small box . It looks like little puffed sesame seeds. It has a mild taste and is good plain as a side dish, or made into a pilaf or tabbouleh..

My husband, king of the rice eaters, now loves quinoa, and I was surprised to hear my grown son Jason say, "yes", when I offered to make quinoa ( I was impressed that he has had it before).

This recipe for quinoa tabbouleh is adapted from a recipe I saw on the Whole Foods Website called " Gluten Free Tabbouleh". It has lots of raw cut up salad vegetables and a great dressing. This is my version. 

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry, washed well)
1 cup parsley, chopped fine
1/4 -1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped fine ( optional)
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 cups small cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 crisp Kirby cucumbers, peeled and diced 
Juice of 1 large or 2 med lemons,
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside until cool. or make light fluffy quinoa in minutes in your Instant Pot ( link to recipe). 

Combine tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, parsley and mint together in a large pasta type bowl. In a large cup mix olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning. Add cooled quinoa to the cut up vegetables and add dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve room temperature or chilled as a side dish.

Step by Step with Pictures



Chop all the vegetables



Mix cooled quinoa, chopped veggies and dressing

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   Oil- Free Version: 

     In 2021 I became oil-free. That means I will just omit the oil from the dressing. I'm trying to work on a better solution. Will update when I do...

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