Balsamic and Herb Quinoa Salad

Serve this cold salad as a delicious summer side to your favorite grilled meat or try it alone as a great light lunch. I have been experimenting a lot with quinoa recently, and this is by far my favorite recipe. Its such a nice, healthy alternative to pasta and rice

Balsamic And Herb Quinoa Salad Ingredients

• 2 cups water

• 1 cup quinoa

• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

• cup frozen baby lima beans

• water to cover

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• ? cup slivered almonds

• 3 Campari tomatoes, diced

• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions

• 2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small chunks

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 3 tablespoons almond oil

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

• 2 teaspoons dried basil

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• teaspoon salt

How to Make Balsamic And Herb Quinoa Salad

1. Bring 2 cups water, quinoa, and bouillon granules to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Spread quinoa onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until cooled, about 30 minutes. Rinse saucepan.

2. Place lima beans into the saucepan and add enough water to cover beans by 1 inch; season with salt and pepper. Cover saucepan with a lid and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until beans are cooked through but still tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain water and rinse beans under cold water to stop the cooking process; refrigerate until cool, about 10 minutes.

3. Cook and stir almonds in a skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and cool almonds to room temperature, about 5 minutes.

4. Mix quinoa, lima beans, almonds, tomatoes, scallions, and mozzarella cheese together in a large bowl.

5. Whisk vinegar, almond oil, olive oil, Italian seasoning, basil, garlic, and salt together in a bowl until smooth; pour over quinoa mixture and stir to coat.

Balsamic And Herb Quinoa Salad Nutritions

• Calories: 453.4 calories

• Carbohydrate: 39.7 g

• Cholesterol: 11.2 mg

• Fat: 27.5 g

• Fiber: 6.5 g

• Protein: 12.6 g

• SaturatedFat: 4.5 g

• ServingSize:

• Sodium: 307.9 mg

• Sugar: 5.2 g

• TransFat:

• UnsaturatedFat:

Balsamic And Herb Quinoa Salad Reviews

• Quinoa novices but trying to eat healthy grains more. This was a good introduction. Complex but subtle taste. I quartered grape tomatoes because I had extra-BOGO week at the store. I think 2 tsp basil+ 2 tsp Italian was overkill and will opt for 2 tsp total.

• This turned out super yummy Best served fresh or soon after adding the dressing. Will vertically be making this yummy dish again soon.

• Substituted frozen peas for the Lima beans. Good side salad. Taste as you add the dressing, the balsamic flavoring was a little much.

• Used the recipe as a base to make something similar from an Indian millet... worked perfectly...found myself scraping the pot