Vegan Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing

This recipe is one of my absolute favorite summer meals – it is light, fresh, and super easy to make. Many of our friends have eating restrictions (no dairy, no eggs, gluten free, etc.) so I like to try new recipes that they can enjoy when they visit our home. Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 large lemon
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta (optional, do not add this if you want this dish to be vegan or use a vegan feta cheese)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups of romaine lettuce
• 1 1/2 cups sliced mini red, yellow, and orange sweet peppers
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• Pita chips to serve on the side for scooping (optional)

Step One: In a medium saucepan bring the water and the quinoa to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and then let simmer for ~10 minutes until all of the water is absorbed.

Step Two: To make the dressing use a microplane to create 2 teaspoons of lemon zest from your large lemon and then squeeze 1/4 cup of lemon juice into a small bowl. Add olive oil, salt, dried oregano to the lemon juice and lemon zest and stir.

Step Three: Prep all of your vegetables – thinly slice the romaine, slice the mini bell peppers and finely dice the red onion.

Step Four: Add the cooked quinoa, dressing, and vegetables into a large bowl and stir to combine all of the ingredients. Add the optional feta cheese and put the pita chips in a bowl. Serve immediately or put the salad in the fridge, holds for ~ 3 days. Enjoy!