Roasted Red Pepper, Chickpea and Quinoa Salad

This was my first time making quinoa -- I still don't know how to pronounce it... but I like it!  I have been wanting to try it for a while so when I saw that this salad features two of my favorite foods, red peppers and chickpeas, I finally decided to give it a shot.  This was so easy to throw together and keep in the refrigerator for quick meals during the week (I actually thought it was better the next day!).  Perfect over a bed of mix greens, this could easily become a lunchtime favorite.

Roasted Red Pepper, Chickpea and Quinoa Salad

Source:  Bella Eats, originally modified from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 oz drained jarred roasted red peppers, diced (about 1 cup)
2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.  Add quinoa and bring back to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover pan and let cook for about 15 minutes, until quinoa is tender but not mushy. Remove from heat, drain any excess liquid and place quinoa in a medium-sized heat-tolerant bowl.

Whisk together the lemon juice, honey, cumin, cayenne and 1/2 tsp salt together in a small bowl.  Whisk in the oil until the dressing is smooth.

Add the chickpeas, roasted red peppers and parsley to the bowl with the quinoa and stir to combine.  Drizzle the dressing over the mixture and toss to combine.