Quinoa Salad for a Potluck

Tonight my Wednesday Supper Exchange will be dining together. It’s been an amazing treat to cook once for the group and then receive meals the next three Wednesdays (click on the link above if you want to set up your own supper exchange, which I highly recommend for a healthy alternative to take-out when you need a break from cooking). Since this is the first night we're actually dining together instead of cooking/picking-up meals at each other's homes, we’ve divvied up the menu. Shocking, I know, that I offered to make one of my quinoa salads. As mentioned in earlier postings, I like quinoa because it’s healthy, it's quick to cook, and very versatile-- really you can add whatever you have on hand to come up with a delicious end product. Plus, it’s an easy sell if your children already eat cous cous…similar consistency.

Potluck Quinoa Salad

1 box of quinoa (prepared with vegetable stock which adds more flavor that cooking it in water)
Zucchini and Squash, drizzled with olive oil and grilled, then chopped
Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Peppers, drained and chopped
Cherry tomatoes, chopped
Feta cheese
Lemon Zest (a microplane zester comes in handy for zesting)
Vinaigrette (in a blender I combined lemon juice, olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of Kosher salt)

Combine all ingredients and let sit for a couple of hours so flavors blend. Will last several days in the fridge, so makes an excellent lunch the next day...and the day after that...