Quinoa and Veggies with Fresh Greek Herb Dressing

I've been wanting to try quinoa for quite some time now. And I finally made the plunge (in other words, finally brought myself to spend the $7 for the package at the grocery, lol). I even created my own recipe to go along with my little quinoa adventure... and wouldn't ya know it, it was fabulous! Probably because there is mint in the recipe and I'm a huge fan of fresh mint.

Take my warning here, people: DO NOT use dry herbs if you make this. You will regret it. This recipe really needs the fresh mint/parsley/green onions for the dressing! And on that note, make sure you use a real lemon too :) Just your PSA for today!

Enjoy! I know we did!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Quinoa
2 Cups Water

1 Large Cucumber
1 1/4 C sliced Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

1 - 2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Green Onions

2 - 3 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Mint**
2 - 3 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley**
1 Lemon
1/4 C Olive Oil
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp White Sugar
**Must be fresh, not dried**

Instructions:

Rinse quinoa in a sieve. 

In a medium saucepan, combine your 1 cup of rinsed quinoa with the 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Once you reach a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

While your quinoa is cooking, slice your cucumbers and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

To make your dressing, finely chop your green onion, mint, and parsley. (There is a little lee-way in the recipe for these so you can incorporate your own personal taste for the herbs. However, I put in 1.5 Tbsp green onion and 2.5 Tbsp each of the mint and parsley.)

In a small mixing bowl, combine your chopped herbs with the juice of one lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix until well combined.

When Quinoa is done, find a nice serving dish and mix in the veggies and dressing.

Top with lemon zest!

This dish is delicious warm, room temperature, or cold.