Don’t you love when food tastes super fresh? A cold summer salad full of citrus flavors and fresh vegetables and herbs is the perfect meal for a hot night or an afternoon picnic. This salad is super filling from the quinoa and edamame, and bursting full of flavor from marinating in a simple olive oil and citrus dressing. 

This recipe is adapted from a 86 lemons recipe. I substituted flat leaf parsley for cilantro because I prefer the taste of parsley to cilantro and parsley was more readily available to me. I also nearly doubled the recipe because I wanted it to be an entree for hubby and me, and we are usually ravenous at dinner. We served it with some crusty bread and olive oil to round out the meal. It was hubby’s favorite way he’s ever eaten quinoa, so if that’s not saying something I don’t know what is 😄.

Bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup quinoa to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover, cooking until all the water is absorbed or about 15 minutes. Once finished, set aside and let cool completely. Meanwhile, dice red pepper, chop parsley, and slice scallions. If using frozen corn and shelled edamame, boil briefly (1-2 minutes) and drain completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, citrus juice, cayenne, chili powder, and fresh cracked pepper and salt. Once the quinoa is cool, mix in a large bowl with corn, edamame, red pepper, parsley, and scallion. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Serves 2 as an entree, 4 as a side