#2,637: Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing

I made this healthy quinoa salad for lunch, and whipped it together in just a few minutes.  Don't you love recipes like that?!  I used leftover quinoa that I had in the fridge, chopped up some veggies, and then added some dressing on top.  I took the picture on a cute (long) summery tray and was too lazy to put it back in a bowl (I didn't want to get another bowl dirty) so I just ate it off the tray.  My husband looks over and starts laughing at how ridiculous I look eating this off a gigantically long tray.  Ha!  This salad is super light and the lemon gives it is nice refreshingly summer flavor, while the almonds, cucumber, and peppers give the texture the crunch I love.  I was out of parsley so I just used some cilantro instead.  I also decided to omit the mint, since all I have is chocolate mint in my garden and thought that might be too weird to a taste for this dish.   

For the quinoa salad

3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry = 3 cups cooked)

1 large seedless cucumber, diced

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 (15 ounce) can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch of mint, finely chopped (I omitted)

1 bunch of Italian parsley, finely chopped (I used cilantro)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 lemon, juiced (I used 6 drops of lemon vitality essential oil)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (I omitted)

1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients from the “for the quinoa salad” portion of the recipe.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over the quinoa salad and toss to evenly coat.