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This delicious Quinoa Garden Salad is savory, sweet and full of crunch. It’s the perfect make-ahead, plant-based lunch. It works well as a 4 Week Gut Protocol meal.

Lunch Meal Prep

Let’s face it, when you’re super busy with work or kids it can be hard to make time for a healthy lunch. You either end up grabbing some pre-packaged junk food to hold you over, going through the drive-thru or skipping lunch all together. Which is not great. Your body needs food to fuel you through your busy day.

Taking about an hour on the weekend to meal prep your lunches ahead of time can help you easily get healthy, nutrient-dense food into your body so you can power through your day. I suggest choosing two different meals for lunch for the week and alternating them. This way you get a little variety but keep prep simple.

Quinoa Garden Salad Recipe

This is one lunch I look forward to every time it is on the menu. It actually tastes better the longer it sits and the flavors have a chance to meld together.

The original recipe is from the Elimination Diet Meal Plan. I made a few tweaks to fit my tastes and so it fits with the 4 Week Gut Protocol Meal Plan.

The creator of the Elimination Diet meal plan, Naturopathic Doctor Dr. Kimberley O’Brien, provides a wealth of information about the ingredients and why they are important for your health. You can learn more about my experience with the Elimination Diet Meal Plan here.

While the 4 Week Gut Protocol is a great first step in discovering your food allergies, the Elimination Diet Meal Plan goes a little deeper.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Cooked Quinoa
• 1/2 cup Spinach
• 1/2 cup Kale
• 1/2 cup Chopped Cucumber
• 1/2 cup Shredded Carrots
• 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries

Garlic Dijon Dressing (Makes 4 Servings) :

• 4 cloves Garlic (2 tsp minced)
• 4 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Water
• Dash Salt
• Dash Pepper

Instructions

1. Cook Quinoa according to package instructions. Let cool.
2. Toss together Quinoa, Spinach, Kale, chopped Cucumber, shredded Carrots and Cranberries.
3. Place Garlic, Dijon Mustard, Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Water, Salt & Pepper in blender. Blend until smooth.
4. Drizzle dressing over salad.
5. Enjoy!

4 Week Gut Protocol Container counts = 2 Greens, 1 Red B, 1 Orange

I don’t count the dried cranberries because it’s such a small amount, but they add great sweet flavor to contrast with the savory dressing. This salad goes great with rice cakes for a Yellow A.

Time saving tip: I use pre-washed baby spinach & kale. You can also get pre-shredded carrots (although I really like the texture of freshly shredded in this recipe). I also use jarred minced garlic.