Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

John requested shrimp for his 26th birthday dinner, and I asked what he wanted as a side. He said, "I don't know, I think we still have that quinoa in the pantry." Having never made quinoa I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so I searched through my collected recipes and found this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. What a great way to start someone off on quinoa! It tastes like pasta, so you'd never know you were eating an incredibly healthy grain.

I plan to eat this salad for lunches for the rest of the summer (or until I get sick of it, which will be pretty soon, knowing me). I will definitely be using this recipe a lot in the future, and probably mixing it up a bit. Mostly vegetarian (except for the chicken broth) and super high in protein, I think this is one I can really stick to. So here it is!

Source
Making Stuff is Fun (slightly adapted - I used chicken broth instead of vegetable, and left out the parsley and cilantro), itself adapted from About.com

Yield
A ton. I'm pretty sure this could last me every day for lunch for a week, plus more. Consider halving the recipe the first time you make it.

Equipment

• Medium sauce pan with lid to cook the quinoa
• Knife to mince garlic, chop onion, slice tomatoes in half, and chop artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers
• Cutting board to mince garlic, chop onion, slice tomatoes in half, and chop artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers
• Whisk
• Large bowl

Ingredients

4 cups Chicken broth
2 cups Uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup White vinegar
2 tbsp. Garlic, minced
Juice of 1 Lemon
3 tbsp. Olive oil
1 tsp. Mustard
1 tbsp. Sugar
1/4 of one Large red onion, diced
1 cup Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup Artichoke hearts, chopped
1 Roasted red pepper, diced
To taste, salt and pepper
1/2 cup Feta, crumbled

Directions

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan,

add in the quinoa,

 and stir well.

Cover and let sit for 10-12 minutes or until all of the broth has been soaked up.

Not done yet...

The rind starts to separate from the grain as it cooks.

Once it's cooked it's light and fluffy like couscous.

Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, make the dressing by combining the vinegar,

sugar

olive oil,

mustard and lemon juice.

Whisk together well.

Pour over the cooled quinoa and mix well.

Add in the garlic,

roasted red peppers and artichokes,

the onions,

and tomatoes,

and gently toss it all together.

Add in the feta

and mix together. All done!

Stay tuned for part 2 - coconut shrimp!