Greek Quinoa Salad

This is the perfect summer salad. It's made with quinoa, which is a dream food for someone trying to watch their weight. It's loaded with veggies, tangy feta cheese, and salty kalamata olives. I'm loving all the fresh summer produce. The dressing is olive oil and lemon juice whisked together, and provides fragrant citrus notes to the dish. Best of all, there's only 185 calories in a one cup serving!

Chopped tomatoes, yellow pepper, and cucumber. As I've said before, you can take the skin off the cucumbers, but I like to leave the skin on.

Add in the halved kalamata olives and the feta.

It's a pretty easy salad once all the chopping is done, and the quinoa is cooked. Quinoa cooks like rice, so it's not too hard to master. I made a big batch of this on Monday to eat for healthy lunches this week, and now that it's Thursday, I'm happy to report that the salad is standing the test of time. It's been fabulous having something healthy already made for lunch this week.

I've been sticking to healthy eating this week, and an exhausting exercise regiment. I haven't lost any more weight since the initial 5, but hey, I feel 100 times better. I am looking forward to rewarding myself tomorrow, though! :)

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup tomato, chopped
1/2 cup yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp kalamata olives, halved

Directions:
1. Place quinoa in a large bowl, cover with water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse and drain well. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan, stir in quinoa. Cover and lower heat. Simmer 15 minutes, or until liquid has dissipated. Fluff with a fork, and set aside. Let cool to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil through sea salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine tomato through kalamata olives. Add cooled quinoa to the bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad, and toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from Cooking Light