Israeli Salad with Quinoa

Most of the Israelies eat an Israeli salad every single day! Breakfast lunch or dinner! I believe that in hot weather countries, people tend to eat lighter meals and combine more vegetables and fruits in their diet. I made a twist and added quinoa to the classic Israeli salad, and also, I used colorful carrots that I found at my local farmers market. I thought it added another layer of flavor and color. Be creative, add more fresh vegetables--you can't really go wrong with this! It really is better than taking vitamins :)

Ingredients:

1 cup dried quinoa

2 cups water

+Salt

1 English cucumber, thinly cubed

4 tomatoes, thinly cubed

3 Carrots- red, orange and white (or just orange), thinly cubed

1/4 cup mint & parsley leaves, thinly chopped

Dressing:

Juice and zest of one lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

+Salt

+Pepper

Directions:

Cook the quinoa with the water and salt on low heat until all the water has soaked into the quinoa.

Let it cool completely. In the meantime add all the chopped vegetables into a large salad bowl, add the cooled quinoa and chopped mint and parsley. Mix the dressing ingredients in another bowl and pour over the salad. Mix and serve.