Quinoa, Tomato, Cucumber, and Mint Salad

Second week of school! Instead of just dumping black beans, rice, and salsa together for lunches, I made something new this week! Again, it’s out of the 365 salads cookbook, and I’m continuing to follow the protocol of actually making the salad that’s on the specific day of the month, modifying it as little as possible.

I ended up getting my groceries at Safeway this time, and I will NEVER do that again. I thought that since I was just picking up a few vegetables, it wouldn’t be “that” much more expensive…boy was I wrong! And, since I never go there, I had no idea where to find anything, and had to ask an employee to help me find EVERY SINGLE THING on my list. So, lesson learned: just suck it up, and drive the ten miles to the next town for groceries!

Anyway, the recipe turned out delicious! I have to admit I was a little wary of a salad with mint in it…but it’s wonderful! And, it portioned out perfectly into 5 pint-sized mason jars, so I have lunches for the whole week! It was also fairly easy to make-I think the entire process only took an hour!

Meal prepped and ready to go for the week!

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c quinoa (uncooked)

3 t chicken bouillon

1 large lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T pancake syrup

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 c olive oil

2 large tomatoes

1 cucumber, diced

4 green onions, chopped

1/4 c chopped mint (fresh)

pepper (preferably in a mill)

Instructions:

1. Rinse the quinoa, then combine with 3 c water and the chicken bouillon in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes to cook the quinoa. Then, remove from heat and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process. Set aside in a large bowl.
2. Meanwhile, grate the zest from a lemon, and juice it into a smaller bowl. Whisk the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, pancake syrup, sugar, salt, and a few grindings of pepper together in a bowl, and then add the olive oil. Continue to whisk until smooth.
3. Add the dressing to the quinoa, and stir to mix.
4. Cut the tomatoes into cubes, and toss with 1/4 t salt in another bowl. Wait five minutes, then use a strainer to remove the juice from the tomatoes.
5. Combine the tomato with the cucumber and green onion, then add the mixture to the quinoa.
6. Stir in the mint.
7. Enjoy! 🙂 If desired, portion out into 5 pint-sized mason jars for easy lunch prep!

Nutrition for 1/5 recipe, not guaranteed to be correct!