Quinoa Caprese Salad

Summer is here and the afternoons are slowly getting hotter. I often lose my appetite on such hot days and long for something cool to eat or drink. I am not really the kinds to sub a juice or smoothie for a meal and usually settle for a cold salad instead. The caprese salad is one of my favorite salads; basil, balsamic and cheese...yumm. However, the one I prepared the other day has a slight twist to it from the usual caprese. I have used cubed paneer instead of the mozzarella and added quinoa for some bulk. It's very easy and comes together pretty quickly. 

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa, cooked { Instructions for cooking the perfect quinoa}

200 gms paneer, diced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade { cut into thin strips }

Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 tablespoon minced garlic

1-2 tablespoon lemon juice { optional }

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Servings: 4 as side salad, 2 as a main salad

Method

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Add the cooked quinoa to this and let the dressing seep into the quinoa for some time. Just before serving toss in the paneer, basil and cherry tomatoes, adjust the seasoning and serve.