Happy Thursday foodie friends! I hope everyone enjoyed my summer inspired dishes last month. If you missed any of them you can look back at my previous posts. This month I will be sharing lemon inspired recipes. All of my lemon lovers out there, get ready for lots of fun ways to use and cook with lemons! For those of you that don’t know, I love lemons!! I enjoy putting them in my water, cooking with them and even decorating my kitchen with them. Today’s recipe is a light and refreshing Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. It’s perfect for any summer barbecue as well as a quick lunch or dinner during the week.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups mixed greens (I used spinach, kale, chard, arugula, etc…)

1 cup cooked quinoa (follow directions on the back of the box to cook)

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, halved (feel free to use either the marinated ones or plain)

1/2 cup kalamata olives pitted, halved

1 tablespoon shallots, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon juiced

1 garlic clove, chopped or you can use a garlic crusher if you have one

Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, basil, garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Assemble the salad: In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, mixed greens, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, basil and feta cheese. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and gently toss to coat. Enjoy!