Minty Quinoa Salad

Welcome to What’s Cooking Wednesday, hosted by Tales from the Fairy Blogmother. Be sure to check out the other recipes submitted for WCW.

When I first saw this recipe over at Karina’s Kitchen, I knew I had to try a variation of it. I love tabouleh, but it had never occurred to me to try a quinoa variation. Silly me. Fortunately, Karina thought of it and provided the inspiration for this:

Minty Quinoa Salad
Inspired by Karina’s Kitchen

1 cup dry quinoa
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil {I usually start with 1}
Juice from 1 lemon
Juice from 2 limes
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves or parsley
1 garlic clove, minced (I like to use my microplane for this)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste (I ended up not using any)

Cook the quinoa according to package directions or your preferred approach {I have found several methods out there, but I prefer Chocolate and Zucchini’s approach of rinsing + cooking + rest time, which is described in the first paragraph of this recipe}

Combine the cooked quinoa and other ingredients in a bowl. Stir, taste, stir, possibly season {I often add additional lime juice instead of salt}. Then chill the salad and allow the flavors to combine.

This serves 4-6 depending on whether it’s a main or side dish.