This salad is so light and refreshing. There are lots of vegetables mixed into a fluffy base of quinoa. And then to top it off there is a lemon and tahini dressing that combines everything together into one delicious salad.

The quinoa provides a great starchy foundation for the vegetables. There are crunchy cucumbers, rich olives and savory garbanzo beans.

The dressing is so good too. Lemon, tahini and garlic are a great flavor combination that gives the salad just the right amount of zing and richness. Tahini also makes the consistency thicker than your usual vinaigrette which ensures all of the flavorful dressing stays on the salad instead of collecting in the bottom of the bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups quinoa cooked in 3 cups water and then chilled
• 2 – 15 ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1- 6 ounce can black olives, drained (6 ounces is the drained weight ) and cut into thirds
• ¼ cup tahini
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Mix together the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings to make the dressing. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix in the dressing. This makes about 12- 1 cup servings.