OMG let's eat lunch. I'm starving. 
How was your weekend? I was HOME for the first time in 7 weeks and it felt so good. Laundry was done. Food was prepared.
Also Jay sang as an Elvis impersonator on Friday night - any interest in that story?
It was a great weekend, and of course today it's cold and rainy and MONDAY but that's totally OK because we. can. do. this. week. 
We're going to start this week with a healthy lunch, too. Or dinner! This meal could be for anytime of day.
It's HEALTHY, delicious, and takes REALLY as long to make as it takes to cook quinoa. I'd suggest making quinoa in advance and keeping a bunch of it in the fridge, then you'll have it for quick and delicious recipes like this one!
You need quinoa - already cooked for an even faster version of this recipe. You also need dill, cucumber, green onion, lemon, tuna, and olive oil. Maybe some salt, and that's it. If you hate tuna leave it out! Or add sliced grilled chicken! No one has to know. 
First, measure the quinoa and water and get that started - cooking quinoa takes about 25 minutes, and that's really the only thing that takes any amount of time in this recipe. 
Then, cut the cucumber into strips and then dice it. This is a pickling cucumber - like a baby English cucumber. I prefer the English or baby cucumbers because the seeds aren't massive and the skin is more tender, but any kind of cucumber you want is great!
Slice the scallion, too. 
Then, remove any large stems from the dill and roughly chop it. 
Now, we have all our ingredients prepped and ready! 
When the quinoa is cooked, fluff it in a bowl and let it cool for a few minutes, then grate the lemon zest directly into the bowl. 
Add the dill, scallion, cucumber, and olive oil to the quinoa. 
Then, stir everything together and taste! Add salt to your taste. 
This, my friends, is it. You cut the zested lemon into wedges, spoon the quinoa over salad greens, top it with some flaked tuna and a lemon, and lunch! Healthy, fast, and delicious. 
The greens mixed into the quinoa are delicious - because of the strong flavors of dill and lemon zest you really don't need any dressing. The lemon-drenched tuna is just a salty delicious icing on the cake. 
I love lunches like this - totes fresh, but full of flavor and not "health food boring" like some things can tend to be. 
Try these salads soon! Promise it's delish.
Cucumber Dill Quinoa with Tuna
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked to package directions and cooled
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 scallion, sliced
- 1 small or ⅓ large English cucumber, diced
- 1 lemon, zested and cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt, to taste
- 5 ounces canned tuna, drained
- 6 cups fresh spinach or salad greens, if desired, for serving
Instructions
- Combine the quinoa, dill, lemon zest, olive oil, cucumber, and scallions in a bowl. Add salt to your taste.
- Divide the salad greens among 3 plates, if using. Top the greens with equal parts quinoa mixture, then flake the tuna over top of the salads. Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
- Vegan if the tuna is omitted.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3
Shared with Weekend Potluck.
This delicious! I love quinoa and am always on the lookout for new recipes. Never would have thought to add canned tuna to the mix but will ahve to try this!
Hope you like it! I make tuna salad with dill/cucumber, so deconstructing it with quinoa to make it more of a meal seemed like a good next step. It was delicious!
I made this salad today for lunch and I loved it! I was a bit skeptical about the lemon zest and so I put just a bit, but it gives the salad such a unique flavour. Thank you for the recipe, I will definitely try it again!
So glad you liked it! Now you'll start using zest on everything! 🙂