Hot Summer Days: Chilled Quinoa and Salmon Salad

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    I don't know where you live, but here in Oregon, it's been a scorcher of a summer.  We've had multiple weeks of weather in the triple digits - very unusual for here. 

    We're definitely in a drought, which is hard for us to adjust to.  After all, in the 1980s when I was in jr. high and high school, Oregon's unofficial mascot was "the slug".  Ha!

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    When I looked at the weather forecast for this week and realized it was going to be so hot, I decided to do some hot weather recipe meal planning! 

(I hate to admit it, but I've slacked on menu planning for several months and need to get back into the habit.) 

    I like to use BuildAMenu.com for menu planning because it matches up grocery store sales with the style of eating my family prefers.  In addition, I'm also able to add my own recipes to the menus as I desire, which is a great feature!  I was able to pick out a great menu of cold, chilled salads and chilled main dish recipes that also fit in with Trim Healthy Mama's weight loss plan!  Here is one of our favorites from this week so far.  I adjusted it to add in twice as much canned salmon to add more meat as our youngest daughter needs to eat a lot more protein. 

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Chilled Quinoa and Salmon Salad (E)

(E-style for Trim Healthy Mama users; perfect also for low carbers!)

for the printable recipe page!

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• 2 cups water
• 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well and drained
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 large cans salmon, drained (optional:  only use 1 can to make this recipe more economical)
  
• 1 bell pepper (any color), diced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (or 2 Roma tomatoes, diced, to save money)
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes, dried

    Bring water and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the water has been absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Spread the quinoa in an 8x8" cake pan (or similar) and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 10-20 minutes or longer. Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, garlic, the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the cooled quinoa, salmon, bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley; toss well to combine.  Add additional salt and/or pepper to taste.

    This was so delicious - and even better when I had the leftovers for lunch the next day. Yum! 

    Let me know what you think!  If you have other favorite canned salmon recipes you enjoy, let us know in the comments. 

   This post was originally published on http://www.JoyInOurJourney.com.

You may also enjoy:

Low-carb Mac 'n Cheese for Grownups (THM ~S)

Every Season Greenaholic Soup ("What to Do With All Your Leftover Zucchini!" Soup) (THM ~ S)

Sour Cream and Green Onion Crackers (THM ~ S)