Craving something fresh, tasty and good for you? This Cilantro Lime Quinoa recipe is easy and healthy and can be prepared in just about 20 minutes. Here is what you are going to need:

• 1 cup quinoa (I used a blend of red and white quinoa)
• 2 cups water
• sea salt
• pepper
• green onion (approx. 1 cup chopped)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 banana pepper
• 1/2 cup garlic infused olive oil, extra virgin
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• juice of 1 lime (1/4 cup)

Make sure you rinse the quinoa before cooking. My strainer really doesn’t have a fine enough mesh, so the little bits of quinoa escape while rinsing. So, I usually put my dry quinoa in a big bowl and fill it with water and swish it around. You will notice right away that the water starts to turn a brownish pink color. Then pour the mixture through a fine mesh spoon of some kind, into the strainer below. This helped from losing too much of the quinoa. I repeat this until the water is mostly clear when I’m swishing it around in the bowl.

Meanwhile, bring your water to a boil and add your clearly rinsed quinoa. Cover and reduce to the lowest simmer you can for 20 minutes. This next tip is IMPORTANT to keep the quinoa from getting to sticky and overdone. Take the lid off of the pot immediately after it cooks for 20 minutes, fluff with a fork and let it cool without the lid. I tend to forget to to do this and it often gets overcooked and sticky.

Dice up the banana pepper (or sub a jalapeño for more heat), green onion and tomatoes. Put them all together in a large bowl.

Add cooled quinoa into large bowl.

In a separate container or food processor, add cilantro, cider vinegar, lime juice, olive oil (if using regular EVOO, add minced garlic here too), salt and pepper. Blend for a nice green color and consistency.

Add dressing into quinoa mixture and refrigerate for flavors to settle.

I hope you enjoy!