That Time I Cooked a Vegetable: Quinoa Salad

If you have never tried quinoa, well first of all you are nuts :) and second add it to your grocery list and give it a shot. Quinoa is so delicious and its good for you too.
This salad is meant to be a very simple and fresh summer side. The tofu I made to go with it had very dominant flavors so I wanted this to be more mellow.

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano
2/3 cup diced zucchini
1 onion
1 plum tomato
a handful of fresh spinach chopped
2/3 cup chopped broccoli florets
1 clove garlic
4-5 tbs balsamic vinaigrette (Italian dressing works really well too for a different taste)
Feta in oil and herbs
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried parsley

First things your soak your quinoa in some water for about 5 minutes,

then drain with a sieve and put in a pot with 1 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp of oregano. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the temp down to about 1 and let simmer covered for 15 minutes.
When the quinoa has finished cooking, fluff it with a fork and let cool

Chop up all your vegetables. For the onion I chose to put them in a frying pan and cook them just long enough so they start to soften and taste less strong I also added the garlic to the pan right at the end.

(The onion should look like this)

Toss all of your vegetables in a bowl and mix in the quinoa.

Add your seasonings. Adjust the amount of vinaigrette or dressing to how you like it. I added chunks of feta in oil with herbs and also added a few spoonfuls of the oil it was marinated in. I really find the feta adds a lot, so if you like feta do not skip out on this ingredient.