This is one of those recipes that I could definitely see myself being scared of a year or two ago.

It involves making your own dressing! Omg. Scary.

I promise it isn’t that hard to make though: the secret ingredient is – peanut butter. And paired with quinoa? Gotta love that protein.

This recipe was inspired by Ambitious Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage
• ½ red onion, diced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• fresh lime juice, to taste
• handful of green onion, chopped
• garnish with chives, chopped
• head of romaine lettuce

Dressing:

• ¼ cup peanut butter
• 1 tbsp honey (sub with agave if vegan)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp water

Directions:

Cook quinoa and let cool.

Make the dressing: add peanut butter and honey to a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Stir in soy sauce, vinegar, water, sesame oil, and olive oil. Stir until smooth.

Add the dressing to quinoa.

Mix red pepper, cabbage, onions, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Squeeze a little fresh lime juice and garnish with chives. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

It looks good…but I didn’t feel like eatin’ it straight up.

Luckily, I remembered I had a bag of romaine lettuce in the fridge!

The best part? Lots of leftovers!

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!