Quinoa Salad

I read a great recipe on 101 Cookbooks for a Lemon-Scented Quinoa Salad. It looked yummy and I thought I'd try something similar. I thought I'd modify the salad to include the flavors in charmoula: lemon, olive oil, garlic, cilantro, and parsley.

I made this salad with chickpeas, roasted yellow peppers, roasted mushrooms, preserved lemon, and herbs (parsley and cilantro). To make weeknight prep easier, I roasted all my vegetables on Sunday.

Tonight, I made the quinoa in my rice cooker (have I mentioned how much I love that thing?) and then tossed everything together. This was our first experience with quinoa and this was a great way to be introduced to it.

Quinoa Salad with Moroccan Flavors

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 1 8 oz. package mushrooms, sliced into quarters & roasted
• 2 yellow bell peppers, roasted, and chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 preserved lemon, chopped fine
  
• handful parsley, chopped
• handful cilantro, chopped
• clove of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• extra virgin olive oil
• lemon juice (1 lemon) or rice vinegar
  

Make the quinoa according to the package directions (I cooked 1 cup quinoa with 1 3/4 cups water in my rice cooker).

While the quinoa is cooking, toss everything else together. When the quinoa is cooked, add it to the rest of the ingredients. Drizzle some olive oil over the salad and toss everything together. Add lemon juice or vinegar if you think the salad needs a little acid.

Serves 3-4.