*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own, and you can trust that I will never promote products that I don’t use and truly love.*
Somehow, I always end up buying more produce than I end up using. I’m always super ambitious about what I’m going to cook for the week, and I almost always end up faltering from the meal plan a time or two. Whether it’s an unplanned meal out, or a craving I can’t deny, there is always a bag or two of SOMETHING left in the fridge that’s nearing it’s expiration.
I have an embarrassing confession… For years I’d knowingly let that produce sit in the fridge and then toss them when they’ve officially become too old to use. At some point, and I don’t know when, I became paranoid about aging fruits and vegetables. I know it sounds insane, but if something wasn’t in perfect shape, I wouldn’t use it. My mentality was kind of ridiculous and I’m glad I’ve discovered that there’s so many great uses for that stuff!
One of my favorite ways to use up these extra vegetables is to make a quinoa salad. You can toss in just about any leftovers you have in your fridge, drizzle on some salad dressing and it will be delicious!
Here are some of my favorite add-ins
|
|
I think you get the idea. Pretty much just use any veggies and protein you don’t have plans for.
When I make my quinoa salads, I like to make sure all of the extras I add in are diced nice and small. Small, uniform pieces allow you to get a little bit of everything in each bite, but they sure can be tedious to chop. There are days that I feel I have nothing better to do than to therapeutically dice vegetables all afternoon, but most of the time I want to get it done quickly.
For those (most) days, I rely on my mandoline slicer and HOLY CRAP is it a game changer! It makes slicing stuff so effortless and with the one I have, you can slice at three different thicknesses. One of the best things about this slicer is that it’s small and doesn’t take up much precious space in the kitchen drawer. I’ve been using this thing almost daily for several months now and the blade is still sharp enough to cut anything with ease. It does take some practice to get into the rhythm and slice away, but once you figure out the pressure you need, it will change your life. It’ll be the best $12.68 you ever spend. I promise.
I try to eat as many paleo-friendly foods and lately I’ve been completely obsessed with Primal Kitchen dressings! They have real, simple, and clean ingredients and every flavor I’ve tried has been insanely delicious. Of course, you can dress the salad using any dressing you want. I imagine olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice would be good, too. Remember, friends, there are virtually no rules here!
While the beauty of this salad is that you can make it out of whatever you want, I do have a few favorite combinations that I sometimes just buy the ingredients for. The only thing I measure is the quinoa before it’s cooked. Other than that, I just eyeball it depending on how I’m feeling that day. Specific, I know! Sometimes I load it up with veggies, and other times I want less. Occasionally I want a wetter or drier salad and will adjust the dressing accordingly. You can really make it whatever you want!
Today’s Last Chance Quinoa Salad
This is the combination featured on this blog post
- cooked quinoa
- orange pepper
- radishes
- celery
- carrot
- fresh parsley
- Primal Kitchen Balsamic Vinaigrette & Marinade
Greek Quinoa Salad
- cooked quinoa
- cucumber
- tomato
- red onion
- red pepper
- Kalamata olives
- feta cheese
- Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade
Chicken Quinoa Salad
- cooked quinoa
- grilled chicken
- tomato
- pepper
- cucumber
- spinach
- Primal Kitchen Italian Vinaigrette & Marinade
I’ll be sure to share any new delicious flavor combinations I discover as I go. For now, I’ll leave you to it! I’d love to hear what tasty concoctions you come up with!