Lemon Quinoa Salad |Cooking With Amanda

I recently discovered Zoe's Kitchen, a Mediterranean chain restaurant serving fresh meals with tons of vegetarian options. One of the best salads they have is their quinoa salad. You can enjoy it there served over a bed of greens but they also sell it in pre-packed containers. It's an easy lunch to pick up when you are running around and have no time. It's also simple enough that you can easily make this quinoa salad at home too.

This is not a salad I can pick up and bring home for dinner anyway. You see, Zoe's quinoa salad, which I love, has celery in it. I can barely taste it, but it's definitely in there. S has a very strong aversion to celery. Even a subtle amount is enough to not eat it. Crazy right? Well, I guess everyone has their thing. I have an extreme dislike to the texture of mushrooms.

Anyways, this is my attempt at making Zoe's quinoa salad and I'm quite happy with the results. I wouldn't call it a copycat recipe. After all, it's missing the celery! Let's just say it's inspired by their salad. I promise it's just as good in its own way.

You can totally make this ahead of time and store it in small to-go containers. Or you can even layer it in Mason jars if you are into those. I would put the dressing on the bottom, then quinoa, veggies, and feta. I have not done this myself, (I have yet to get that organized!) but I hear they last around 5 days so you can have one prep and a great salad all week.

Quinoa is a grain so this salad is filling and can be a healthy light meal. The other nice thing about quinoa is that you can make a batch of it and just store it in the refrigerator. Use it throughout the week in various recipes like this summer quinoa salad from Julia. If you prefer a Mexican flair, you can also check out my quinoa burrito bowl recipe.

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Lemon Quinoa Salad Recipe

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Ingredients

3/4 cup quinoa
1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Thoroughly rinse the quinoa. Combine in a medium pot with 2 cups of water. Bring it to boil, then cover and simmer until the water is gone. Cool.
Boil a separate small pot of water. Add the broccoli and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the broccoli and immediately cool it in ice water. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled quinoa with garlic powder, oregano, fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix in the cucumbers, broccoli, tomatoes, and scallions.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, Dijon mustard, and sugar.
Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.
Add the dressing to the quinoa salad. Adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Notes

You can use either red or white quinoa.
I am very generous with my fresh ground pepper in any dish with lemons. They pair well together so don't be afraid to add little more!