Love greens, but need a lil colorful break from green based salads? Us too! Dark, leafy greens like kale, spinach, swiss chard & arugula are staples of nearly every meal…blended, tossed, shaken or stirred. (Dandelion greens & frisse…you’re nasty). But too much of any one thing can lead to food boredom and rebelling down a self-destructive path. That fueled our desire to make a healthy low fat, gluten free salad without a single green leaf – except a smattering of flavorful fresh herbs – dill, parsley and chives. Enjoy a rainbow of delicious veggies thinly sliced and tossed in a delicate low fat lemon dill vinaigrette with high protein super grain quinoa in our Dilly Lemon Quinoa Veggie Salad. Watch the video! 
INGREDIENTS
*As always, please use organic ingredients for YOUR health!
1 cup cooked red quinoa
1 large fennel bulb, cored
1 large carrot or 3-4 slim ones, peeled
Radishes. 1 Watermelon Radish or 6 Red or the colorful Easter Egg Radishes we used in our video
1 medium red onion
¼ cup finely diced fresh parsley
Garnish:
¼ cup finely diced fresh chives
Zest from 1 lemon
Lemon Dill Dressing
¼ cup finely diced fresh dill leaves
3 lemons, zested & juiced (reserve some zest for plating garnish)
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Cook quinoa in water according to package directions. Usually 2cups water per cup dry quinoa. Raise to boil, reduce to simmer…15minutes. Done when water absorbed & quinoa is tender. If been following our blog you may already have quinoa ready in fridge. Definitely check out blog:
Avoid Derailing Diet – Essential Weekly Food Prep
Prep Meals for Your Week to Avoid Derailing Diet
Fill large bowl halfway with ice water. Thinly slice fennel, radishes, onion and carrot. Place veggies in ice bath and set aside.
To make Dilly Lemon Dressing: Combine dill, olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper & both zest & juice from lemon. We reduce fat in dressing, but not flavor, by shifting to a higher ratio of acid (lemon juice) to oil, about 3 or 4:1 depending on how juicy your lemons are. Blitz with immersion blender if you have one! But not essential. If you don’t have 1, dice dill as much as humanly possible.
Drain water from veggies & gently pat dry. Add veggies, quinoa and parsley to bowl with onion. Pour dressing into bowl & toss to coat. Place in serving bowls and finish plate with diced chives and additional fresh lemon zest. Serve with grilled wild fish or organic chicken breast, or go vegan tossing 2 cups drained & rinsed garbanzo beans into quinoa salad.
WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuM_QWEPd7c
