Quinoa Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Cilantro

It is Tuesday night and I am thinking about healthy and tasty dinner to make. I decide on a quinoa salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and cilantro. I will serve it with chicken and mushrooms. I adopted this recipe from PCC Natural Markets, even though I have never seen the actual recipe for this type of a salad they serve in their deli. But this is how I make it and I love it.

Ingredients:

½ cup of dried regular white quinoa

1 cup of cold water plus 2 tablespoons

2-3 Roma tomatoes or 1 big heirloom tomato, chopped

½  of English cucumber, peeled and chopped

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

juice of half a lemon

salt

pepper

1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. In a pan combine dried quinoa and water. (Ratio of quinoa to water should be 1:2, but I noticed that when cooking half a cup few extra tablespoons of water are needed). Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so that quinoa is boiling, cover the pan with a lid, let cook for about 10-15 minutes until all water is absorbed and you can fork the quinoa. Transfer cooked quinoa to a big bowl and let it cool off.

2. Once quinoa cooled off you can make the salad. To the bowl of quinoa add tomatoes, cucumber, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients together.