Cold Quinoa Salad

yup, again with the quinoa......LOL, well if i keep posting recipes for fettuccine Alfredo, and vodka sauce baked ziti, i have to balance it out with something healthy or I'd just be giving you "the fat"
so here's the skinny:


We all TRY and bring lunch to work during the week so we don't senselessly spend $ on food that could better made at home.  Homemade lunch is usually healthier for you and MUUUCHHHHH cheaper, but as we all know, it's hard to please the palate when exploring the options of what to fill that lunch bag with. Sandwiches, leftovers, yogurts, fruits and veggies usually make the cut, but there are lots of other options to explore for your mid-day munch....

The other night I was in the pantry staring at what my possibilities were and I saw that bag of red quinoa that I had purchased about a month earlier from Table Local Market in Bedford.  I hadn't cracked it open yet and seeing it inspired me to put together a nice little cold salad for lunch for the next day

Here's what I came up with:

To make this salad you will need:
- 6 Tablespoons of olive oil
-1 Red onion diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic Minced
- 2 cups of cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa in this dish)
- 3 baby cucumbers diced (or you can use one regular, or a half an english cucumber)
-2 cups of quartered grape tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
- Cracked black pepper, salt, and Lawry's season salt or Adobe


In a pan add two tablespoons of olive oil and sautee half the red onion until golden brown, then add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Add the Quinoa and cook until heated through and add a little salt and pepper. 
Remove from the pan,  and let cool.

asemble the vinagrette while the quinoa is cooling:

add remaining olive oil and the two tablespoons of rice wine vinegar to a small bowl and the lawrys season salt & cracked black pepper, whisk to emulsify and set aside


Now to the cooled quinoa add the quartered grape tomatoes, remaining diced red onion and diced baby cucumbers, a little more salt and pepper to taste if needed and the rice wine vinagrette.



Chill until the next day and now you have a delicious healthy lunch option :)








BTW these are the baby cucumbers I used for this dish, they make an awesome snack on their own and how cute are they!!!!!