Serve this cold quinoa salad with balsamic dressing 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. It's such a nice, healthy alternative to pasta and rice!
Ingredients
- water: 2 cups
- quinoa: 1 cup
- chicken bouillon granules: 1 tsp
- frozen baby lima beans: 0.5 cup
- water to cover:
- salt and freshly ground black pepper: (to taste)
- slivered almonds: 0.33333 cup
- Campari tomatoes: 3 piece (diced)
- scallions: 2 Tbsp (thinly sliced)
- ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small chunks: 2 piece
- balsamic vinegar: 3 Tbsp
- almond oil: 3 Tbsp
- extra-virgin olive oil: 2 Tbsp
- italian seasoning: 2 tsp
- basil: 2 tsp (dried)
- garlic: 1 tsp (minced)
- salt: 0.25 tsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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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 the saucepan.
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Place lima beans into the saucepan and add water to cover beans by 1 inch; season with salt and pepper. Cover the 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.
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Cook and stir almonds in a skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat and cool almonds to room temperature, about 5 minutes.
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Mix quinoa, lima beans, almonds, tomatoes, scallions, and mozzarella cheese together in a large bowl.
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Whisk vinegar, almond oil, olive oil, Italian seasoning, basil, garlic, and salt together in a small bowl until smooth; pour over quinoa mixture and stir to coat.
