Quinoa Salad with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette

In the midst of getting knocked-out this summer by heat wave after heat wave, my craving for salads has been endless; however, eating salads night after night can get a little mundane, especially when my go-to dressing is just a basic combination of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Well, it's time to switch it up and start experimenting with salad dressings - one of the most ideal ways of using extra virgin olive oil.

Greens are greens, but they can transform depending on what you put on them. I was inspired after eating lunch a couple months ago at a vegan restaurant in my neighborhood, where salads are their obvious specialty. Now I'm no vegan, but it was their Quinoa salad with an amazingly tasty honey-lime vinaigrette that had me going back. After a few attempts to get the dressing just right, it has now become one of my favorite salads to make at home.

For the Salad:

Cooked Quinoa
Mixed leafy greens
Sweet Corn
Red Pepper
Avocado

As it is a salad, use as little or as much of each ingredient as you like. First, prepare some quinoa according to the package directions and let cool. I like to prepare a batch of it and keep it in the fridge for future salad-making. Go crazy with mixing up the greens. I found a great mix at my local farmer's market with spinach, red leaf, mustard greens, pea shoots, and watercress. With greens, the common rule is that the more bitter-tasting the green, the more nutrients it holds. I also found some fresh New Jersey sweet corn at the market as its just now coming into season, so cut the corn off the fresh cob and add it raw to the bowl of greens (yes, you can eat it raw and it's delicious!). Next, add some cooked quinoa then top-off the salad with some thinly-sliced red pepper and sliced ripe avocado.

For the Vinaigrette:

3 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tsp. Honey
1/2 tsp. Fresh Lime Juice
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I find this recipe to make enough for about 3-4 single-serving meal-sized salads and I used Greek Thyme Honey, the juice of one small key lime, and a wonderfully fruity Nocellara extra virgin olive oil from Sicily. Add all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy. Store any leftover dressing in a jar for up to a week.