Power Up!!! Quinoa Salad

First off: A Big Happy 27th Birthday to my best friend Brittany!!

On to food. I cannot tell you how many times I eat some form of quinoa salad during the week. Since I go to school two nights a week I need to bring my dinner to class. God forbid I make myself a sandwich! I think this recipe is a winner. I call this Salad Power Up because it has all of the components of a healthy meal you need: Protein, Fiber, Veggies. I mean does it get any better?

I usually eat this quinoa salad just with a lemon and olive oil dressing and fresh veggies. I decided to bump it out a bit for you lovely readers! Let's go through the components and how good they are for you!

• Chickpeas: Chock Full of Fiber & Protein
• Quinoa: Super grain full of protein,fiber, and amino acids
• Veggies: Well obvious- full of vitamins and minerals. Use whatever veggies you like!
• Greek Yogurt: Holy Protein!!!Instead of glopping on a full fat dressing use a Greek yogurt dressing

This is a really easy recipe that you can make on a Sunday and eat all week! Feel free to make the quinoa ahead of time if you want. I used a cup of quinoa and it will feed me for a few meals. Not to mention when you add a ton of veggies and chickpeas it almost doubles in size! The Greek yogurt dressing puts this salad over the top! You can really run with this salad and add whatever you like. I added a bit of feta cheese that I had left over. Maybe I should have named this the "Everything, but the Kitchen Sink" Salad. Feel free to call it Whatever you want!

 Power Up!!! Quinoa Salad

 Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup quinoa
1 zucchini
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes ( halved)
1 cup spinach roughly chopped
1 cup chickpeas

Dressing: 
1 large lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt



Directions:

1. Cook quinoa to packaged directions then let cool and add to a bowl
2. Chop veggies and mix in with quinoa then add feta and chickpeas
3. For the dressing, mix greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice until the dressing is at a desired consistency
4. Add dressing to salad and mix. Chill and serve for a boost!