Quinoa Summer Veggie Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette. V. GF.
Happy August! The summer is flying by. School starts this month. We’re prepping for that & submitting the last of our college applications. Pure emotional roller coaster. Last week was our first week without any swim meets during the work week. It was nice to get back to cooking and having mostly everyone home for dinner in the evening.
As apart of my food prep each weekend I always make a large batch of quinoa and rice. I opted to add a ton of our garden veggies to it for a filling and vitamin-packed salad. My carnivores ate this salad as a side dish & the rest of us had this as a main. Plus this salad is perfect for brown bagged lunches. And because it has no dairy to spoil – a great option to take to a BBQ or potluck.
Ingredients:
1.5-2 cups of cooked red or white quinoa
1 large bell pepper, sliced with seeds and membrane removed (any color will suffice)
1 large cucumber, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup of shelled edamame
1/2 cup of matchstick carrots
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed (I roasted mine for 5 minutes but can be used raw)
*You can add any other veggies you have on hand like broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms etc.
Method:
To a large bowl, add your quinoa and all of your prepped veggies.
Vinaigrette:
1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
4 tablespoon of liquid aminos
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Method:
Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until creamy. I reserve the vinaigrette until I’m serving. Store in an airtight container for leftovers.
Two more weeks until I can start my running journey again. I have lofty goals, I won’t lie but I’m keeping focused on what I can do right now and giving it 110%. Yesterday and today I woke up feeling stronger. I also have dropped 4lbs so far… trying to lean out more before I start running again along with building my muscle back up. I’m seeing progress.
Sunday: 23 mile trail bike ride.
Monday: 1h 5m elliptical, 40m treadmill, weights, core & balancing
That’s a wrap. Happy Monday my friends!
— Knead to Cook