Quinoa Salad

I'm not even going to talk about how long it's been since I posted a recipe here. Just know that I have thought about it often and have a bajillion recipes that reeeeeally wanted some air-time on this here blog. REALLY GOOD ONES.

Soooo...I might start stealing pictures if I don't have one of my own.
Little by little, I will catch up on sharing them all. Promise.

I'll start with this one because it's awesome. And DELICIOUS. And good for you. And really beautiful!
If you've never tried quinoa before, this is the place to start.

Someone else's photo, but the one that most closely resembles the end product of this recipe.

Quinoa Garden Salad

Salad bits:
1 c. Quinoa, cooked in 2c. chicken broth, and cooled.
 (if you've never cooked quinoa before, just cook it like rice in a rice cooker...or on the stove, bring quinoa and broth to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes)
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c. carrots (shredded, or cut into tiny pieces which is the way I prefer)
1 c. chopped bell pepper (red, green, orange, yellow, whatever! yellow looks the prettiest, if you care...)
1 c. chopped cucumber
cubed/crumbled feta cheese, as much as you like...I love, so I add lots.

Dressing:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Toss salad with the dressing and serve! Also tastes yummy the next day.


Tips and Tricks:
This salad dressing is so simple that you can really throw WHATEVER you want in there...like avocado...or beans...or cilantro...or omit whatever you don't have as far as veggies go.

Also, I have had quinoa on hand that was not cooked in chicken broth and used it for the salad anyways. I just made sure to add some garlic and onion powder to the dressing so that the taste factor was still awesome and not boring.
I have also been so impatient to eat this that I have just used quinoa hot off the stove. It makes for a warm salad with crisp, raw veggies and still tastes good.