Colorful Quinoa Brown Rice Salad

*This is a sponsored post.  I recieved products to use in the creation of my #CookoutWeek recipes. All opinions are my own.*

#CookoutWeek 2018 is here! During the next week, I am joining over 50 of my blogger friends to celebrate summer by posting delicious cookout-themed recipes. If you love grilling, frozen treats, picnics, berries, s'mores, campfire meals, and other summer goodies... you are in the right place!

To kick things off, I've sharing Colorful Quinoa Brown Rice Salad, a recipe that I've adapted slightly from Taste of Home.  Back in October, I changed my eating habits, and part of that change was trying new things.  Quinoa was on the list to try, and I've found a brown rice/quinoa blend that I love.

When I saw the recipe for this salad, I used that as the jumping off point, and then followed the rest of the recipe as it was written.  While the quinoa and brown rice cooked, I chopped all the veggies.  So many beautiful colors and textures.  I keep my gingerroot in the freezer, and used a microplane to grate it.  That really helped it get distributed evenly throughout the dish.

This comes together so quickly, and it gets better as it sits.  I just gave the lidded bowl a shake when I passed by the fridge.  It was the perfect side to some burgers, and it was awesome with some leftover diced grilled chicken rolled into a multi grain tortilla. Next time I might even add some diced jalapeno.  Thank you to Catherine T. for sharing her recipe!

Colorful Quinoa Brown Rice Salad

ingredients:

• 1 3/4c water
• 1 pkg quinoa (I used Near East Quinoa and Brown Rice, omitting the spice packet)
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium sweet orange pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• DRESSING:
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and brown rice. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 12-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Transfer to a large bowl; cool completely.
2. Stir spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and green onions into quinoa. In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients until blended. Drizzle over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving.

Slightly adapted from : https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/colorful-quinoa-salad

quinoa, salad,

Vegetables, side dishes, healthy

American

Created using The Recipes Generator

Here's a full list of the bloggers participating in #CookoutWeek 2018! You can find yummy recipes by checking out any of the links below: The PinterTest Kitchen ♥ 2 Cookin Mamas ♥ A Day in the Life on the Farm ♥ A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures ♥ April GoLightly ♥ Blogghetti ♥ Bottom Left of the Mitten ♥ Cheese Curd In Paradise ♥ Chef Sarah Elizabeth ♥ Coconut & Lime ♥ Cookaholic Wife ♥ CookwithRenu ♥ Daily Dish Recipes ♥ Everyday Eileen ♥ Fairyburger ♥ Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice ♥ Family Around the Table ♥ Fix Me a Little Lunch ♥ For the Love of Food ♥ Frankly Entertaining ♥ Frugal & Fit ♥ Get the Good Stuff! ♥ Hardly A Goddess ♥ Herbivore Cucina ♥ Join Us, Pull up a Chair ♥ Jolene's Recipe Journal ♥ Jonesin' For Taste ♥ Karen's Kitchen Stories ♥ Kelly Lynn’s Sweets & Treats ♥ Mildly Meandering ♥ Moore or Less Cooking ♥ Our Good Life ♥ Oven Tales By Syama ♥ Palatable Pastime ♥ Sarah Cooks the Books ♥ Savory Moments ♥ Seduction In The Kitchen ♥ Sweet Coralice ♥ Tampa Cake Girl ♥ Technotini ♥ That Recipe ♥ The Baking Fairy ♥ The Beard and The Baker ♥ The Simple Supper ♥ The Spiffy Cookie ♥ The Weekday Gourmet ♥ This is How I Cook ♥ Who Needs A Cape? ♥ Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen

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