I was cooking barbecued jerk chicken and was getting tired of always serving baked potatoes with it and didn’t want to eat rice… hmmm so then what was I supposed to make to eat that was healthy and still incorporated some vegetables. I found my bag of quinoa in my pantry and figured it was kinda like rice! I had a ton of fresh vegetables in the fridge and since I was already using the barbecue I decided to roast some vegetables and make a roasted vegetable quinoa salad. Well then I had to figure out what dressing to use, so I found a southwestern quina salad recipe and adapted the dressing for my made-up salad. Turned out pretty good!

Dressing:
1/2 cup lime or lemon juice, fresh
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs vegetable seasoning
salt and lemon pepper to taste

Salad:
1 cup quinoa
1 1/4 cup broth, vegetable or chicken

2 red peppers
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup corn
handful, asparagus
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
handful of mint, minced

Quinoa:
Rince the quinoa under cold water and drain. In a pot put the quinoa in the pot and stir on medium heat until lightly toasted and water has evaporated. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.

Dressing:
In a small container mix the lime/lemon juice, red wine vinegar together seasoning, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until combined and set aside.

Roast Vegetables:
Put the red peppers, tomatoes and asparagus in a bowl and coat with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. lay the vegetables flat either in the oven or grill on the barbecue until tender. Once cooked, slice vegetables.

Assemble:
In a large bowl add the cooked quinoa, roasted vegetables, mint. Pour dressing overtop and lightly stir until incorporated. Add additional salt, pepper or lime/lemon juice to taste.

Can be served warm or cold.