Quinoa Caprese Salad

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great, refreshing weekend! I've been utilizing the chalk wall in our kitchen to write out our weekly meal plan and I love it! I think I resisted because it's hard to know on a certain day what you're going to want to eat, but I figure, get it all planned out and grocery shopped so you have something to eat and you can just switch the days around if you want.

Preparing weekend lunches is a favorite of mine. It's really nice to enjoy a home-made meal if you're at the house to eat it:) With all the weekend running around, sometimes eating while out is more convenient. This Saturday, having completed the morning errands and getting home in time for lunch, I made a quinoa caprese salad with grilled chicken. This is one of those easy-to-assemble meals that is packed with protein and flavor.

I start by grilling boneless, skinless chicken breasts in olive oil for a few minutes at the same time I boil the quinoa. Quinoa cooks quickly, about 8 minutes. I used 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of organic chicken broth to give it more flavor.

Then, because the caprese ingredients are a favorite combo (tomato, basil, and mozzarella) I assembled them all together.

Quinoa is a good source of fiber, magnesium, iron, calcium and fiber. It has a slightly nutty flavor, but mainly takes on the flavors you cook it with. It cooks quickly, in about 8 minutes. Then I chopped the cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls in half and tossed in the basil.

I seasoned my salad with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt-free seasoning.

A bright, refreshing (and filling) salad!

After lunch, I portioned the rest out into plastic containers for quick meals later on during the week.

Have you tried quinoa- do you like it?

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I finally completed all 12 weeks of the Live Fit challenge (yay!) and will be bringing you the low down with my progress later this week- I need to get my body fat measured first:)

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