Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

• 1 small garlic clove
• 2 lemons
• 60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• Salt and black pepper
• 550g cooked quinoa, cold or at room temperature
• 2 mini seedless or Persian cucumbers, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 60g finely chopped parsley leaves and stems
• 75g green olives, such as Castelvetrano or Cerignola, pitted and halved

Instructions

1. Finely grate the garlic into a large bowl. Finely grate in the zest of 1 lemon, then halve the lemons and squeeze in 60 ml juice. Add the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
2. Stir in the quinoa, cucumbers, bell pepper, parsley and olives. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt (if bland), black pepper (if mild), olive oil (if too puckery) and lemon juice (if it needs a punch). The quickest way to chop a lot of parsley is to fold a small bunch in half so the leaves are under the stems. Hold onto the bunch with your non-dominant hand and finely slice the leaves and stems. Parsley stems are crunchy and concentrated with flavor; be sure to use them in your salad.