Roasted Summer Vegetable Quinoa Salad: Healthy and Hearty

When I first started gardening, I learned an important lesson about squash. Squash will continue to grow and grow until it is picked. You can leave your house in the morning with a 4-inch zucchini on the vine and come home to an 8-incher. For this reason, the first time I grew zucchini and yellow squash, I couldn't make food fast enough to keep up with my squash yield and ended up sending guests home with a bounty of veggies. In spite of all of the zucchini I was consuming, I never grew tired of it because of its versatility. This roasted summer vegetable quinoa salad is the perfect place to put your zucchini and yellow squash, whether or not it is straight from the garden. To prepare the dressing for this salad, I used my Vitamix Blender and my dressing was ready in 2 seconds flat. This high-powered machine makes preparing homemade dressings (and soups, smoothies, and more!) so easy to the extent that I never buy store-bought dressings any more. This is a healthier and tastier way to give your summer salads flavor! This quinoa salad is full of roasted summer vegetables with and zesty lemon flavor. It works as a great alternative to pasta salads, which can be full of fat from mayonnaise and oils. This healthy salad is very easy to make and only requires roasting some vegetables (you can also grill the veggies) and steaming up some quinoa. To learn tips and tricks on making perfect light, fluffy quinoa and for another flavor-packed quinoa dish, check out my Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe. Summer Quinoa Salad Recipe Print This Recipe Ingredients 2/3 cup quinoa 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or olive oil, separated 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1 zucchini squash, diced 1 yellow squash, diced 2 cups green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1" pieces 7 cloves garlic, roasted 1 tablespoon lemon zest 3 tablespoons lemon juice salt, to taste black pepper, to taste 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped Directions Spread vegetables on a cookie sheet or place them in a casserole dish. Drizzle vegetables with 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic cloves in foil and place the bundle on the cookie sheet with the veggies Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until softened. While the veggies are baking, prepare the quinoa according to the directions on the package. In a blender or food processor, blend the roasted garlic cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice and oil into a thick, smooth mixture. Pour this dressing over the cooked quinoa and stir it together. Add the roasted vegetables and fold them gently in to the quinoa. Sprinkle the walnuts on top and serve either hot or cold! via Food Fanatic http://www.foodfanatic.com/2013/07/roasted-summer-vegetable-quinoa-salad-healthy-and-hearty/

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