Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I've been waiting to find a good recipe to try quinoa for the first time, and thought this was the perfect first meal to make with it.  Simple, and I would really get a feel for how to cook and what to eat with quinoa.  If you haven't tried it for yourself, this would be a great recipe for you because of it's simplicity.  I picked up some quinoa at Whole Foods in the bulk section, and it worked perfect.

Rinse quinoa and add three cups of water to a pan on the stove top.

Cook for around 25 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.

Dice one medium sized cucumber.

Quarter one cup of cherry or grape tomatoes.

Finely chop 1/2 cup of basil.

Once the quinoa has finished cooking fluff and add to a bowl. 

Add the cucumbers, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste.  I also added some hard salami, but you could just as easily use chicken or not meat at all.

Let the flavors marinate together for a few minutes and serve with feta cheese on top for garnish.

I made this for dinner and was amazed how full I was from it.  It's a great light dish that adds some extra protein to your diet.  The lemon juice and olive oil marinate everything perfectly together.  Quinoa has a little crunch to it, which I really enjoyed. 

Have a great day everyone!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Serves 4

Adapted from Daily Garnish

1 1/2 cups of dry quinoa, rinsed

1 medium cucumber, diced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup of salami

1/2 cup basil, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

sea salt to taste

feta cheese to taste

Rinse quinoa and add three cups of water to a saucepan.

Cook for 25 minutes on the stove top until all water has been absorbed.

Dice the cucumber, tomatoes, and basil.

Once the quinoa is cooked, fluff and add the vegetables.

Then add the lemon juice, oil and seat salt. 

Pour into the quinoa mixture.

Let flavors marinate for a few minutes, then serve with feta cheese on top.