As part
of my New Year’s resolution, I mentioned that I wanted to stick
to healthier diet of more fruits/vegetables and clean up my bad eating
habits. I think that I’ve been pretty
successful with this so far. I’ve been
eating a ton more vegetables and trying new foods and recipes that include
quinoa, chia seeds and lentils. I’ve
also given up eating greasy fast food and opting for a healthier option like subs
from Subway or soup and salad at Panera Bread.
This is especially challenging because I travel so frequently, but I
force myself to buy anything other than McDonalds or my old favorite
Chick-fil-A. Lately, since I’ve stopped eating at
these places I really haven’t had any cravings for them, which is
great. I also gave up eating
dessert/sweets for Lent. This has been
extremely difficult because I love ice cream, cake, cookies – you name it, I
eat it. Anyway, I digress.
I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite
recipes that I found sometime in January from another blogger. This recipe has been my go to meal for the
past month and a half. I recently made
some for my sister a few weeks ago and today I brought some in for a potluck at
work. Everyone enjoyed it and they all
wanted the recipe. My sister now makes
this meal probably just as much as I do.
So, I figure that I would share this with you all today. It’s really fresh and healthy with a few simple
ingredients. It’s also really quick to
put together. Check out the recipe below
and let me know what you think.
Greek Quinoa Salad with Shrimp
Ingredients:
1
½ cup of dry quinoa
2
cups of water [or chicken broth]
1
cup of cucumbers, quartered
½
cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
¼
cup of Kalamata olives, sliced
¼
cup of red onions, chopped
2
green onions (scallions), chopped
1
lemon, juiced
3
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2
tablespoons white wine vinegar [or red wine vinegar]
2
garlic cloves, minced
Salt
and Pepper to taste
½ pound of cooked
shrimp (chopped in half)
½
cup feta cheese (optional)
Directions:
In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of water [or chicken
broth] and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, 16-18 minutes, until
all the water is absorbed, Once cooked, remove from heat and
allow to cool approximately ten minutes while prepping the rest of the
ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, Kalamata
olives, red onions, and green onions.
Add the cooked shrimp that has been chopped in half.
Dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive
oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
Drizzle a little bit of the dressing over
quinoa/vegetable mixture and stir in a little at a time while folding the
mixture. Season with salt and pepper,
top with cheese, serve and enjoy!
