Fresh from the Garden
The season of bountiful produce has arrived. Whether your produce comes from the Farmers Market, a CSA share, or a plot of dirt out back, show how you are using fresh July fruits or veggies. And if you have gardening successes – or failures – please share!
Fresh herbs and veggies in a gluten free and vegan grain based salad! That’s a mouthful- but it is definitely worth mentioning how delicious this quinoa salad was- colorful, nutritious, and textureful. Do you watch Chopped? The judges are always asking for texture and in this recipe I delivered! The raw veggies along with the nuts and seeds add perfect crunch to the quinoa not to mention the ideal nutrient balance- Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Fiber, Manganese, Magnesium, the list goes on and on.
I wish I was home enough this summer to join a CSA- traveling most weekends doesn’t leave a lot of time for food prep or eating leftovers from the week. (I also wish I had a garden- which is difficult in city living). I made this salad on a weekend and ate it every day that week for lunch (paired with hummus and carrots usually). It tasted better each day as the quinoa and veggies soaked up more of the juice. It was almost gone when I remembered I still needed to take pictures of it, luckily I snapped a few. Weeknight photography lighting sucks. But this grain based veggieful salad does not!
Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable broth or water
2 cups dry quinoa
2 red peppers
2 cucumbers
¼ cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 TBSP orange zest
¼ cup freshly squeezed OJ
¼ cup olive oil
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP lemon juice
½ tsp salt
1 TBSP garlic powder
¼ cup cranberries
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ pumpkin seeds
Directions:
1. Cook quinoa in vegetable broth according to package directions
2. While your quinoa is cooking, chop up your veggies and parsley
3. Measure out ingredients for the vinaigrette and combine
4. Allow quinoa to cool a little and then mix in with veggies, parsley, and vinaigrette
(If you need your quinoa to cool quickly because you waited until the last minute to make it for a cookout put the quinoa in a bowl in the freezer or on top of a bowl filled with ice and water).
5. Combine all ingredients- allow to marinate for at least 1 hour
6. Serve cold
What delicious meals have you been making with your summer produce!? Do you have a garden?
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