Quinoa & Vegetable Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

I have found another amazing quinoa recipe!  A big thanks to The Garden Grazer for the inspiration.  I altered her recipe a bit, but the combination of ingredients she came up with is delicious!  The idea of adding "dressing" is something I had not thought of yet and cannot wait to use that inspiration in future dishes.

The fun thing about this dish is that you can really use whatever you already have.  It also makes a lot!  So, if you have a lot of mouths to feed or want a healthy lunch for multiple days you are all set.  I found that it had more flavor when it sat over night.  The quinoa will soak up the flavors of the vegetables and the lemon basil dressing, making it even more delicious.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did :)  Please leave me a comment!  I would love to read them.

Servings:  6 to 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes + quinoa cook time & cool time
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

*Salad*
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 ripe avocado
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 roma tomatoes
1 bell pepper (I used orange)
1 can of corn (can use frozen)
1/2 onion (whatever you prefer)
1/4 cup Parmesan flakes

*Dressing*
4 tbsp EVOO
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
10 to 15 fresh basil leaves, washed & cut into thin strips

TIP: When cutting the tomato, cut in half length wise.  Then use your thumb to scrape out the seed/gooey part.  It will look like this before you cut it.

Directions:

Cook quinoa according to package directions, mine took about 17 minutes to cook.  While quinoa is cooking, mix together the ingredients for the dressing.  Then slice the veggies into small pieces.  When quinoa is done, set aside and allow to cool (about 15 minutes).  Once the quinoa is cool, mix all ingredients including the dressing in a large bowl.  Either enjoy now or refrigerate over night to allow the flavors to absorb more.

Enjoy!! I served mine with bbq chicken!