Quinoa Salad with Bell Pepper and Cilantro – Easy and Healthy Side Dish

Cook's Illustrated keeps bringing me back with their seeming limitless online supply of amazing recipes and techniques.  My latest CI recipe attempt was the Quinoa Salad with Red Bell Pepper and Cilantro, which turned out fantastically despite a number of modifications I made.

First, I shortcut their recommended quinoa preparation approach by washing the quinoa and then bringing it to a boil with 1.5 cups of water instead of toasting, parboiling, and then drying it out on a baking sheet.

Second, I used whatever ingredients I had on hand instead of following the recipe ingredients and amounts precisely.  That resulted in using approx. 2/3 of a green bell pepper instead of 1/2 red bell pepper, lemon juice instead of lime, and omitting the red onion entirely.  

I also didn't quite measure the dressing ingredients, rather eyeballed the amounts.

Despite my best efforts to seemingly produce a sub-par dish, the output was really great and a perfect accompaniment to my work lunches for a few days.  The dijon mustard-based dressing was delicious, the bell pepper added a great crunch, and the cilantro added a nice herbal flavor.

I even ate the quinoa salad for breakfast one day because I was looking forward to it that much.  I look forward to making variation of this dish again and again!