I love the relaxed, carefree feeling of the summer and all the wonderful food that comes along with it, but sometimes we tend to over-indulge.
 With the warmer weather comes days filled with backyard barbeques, patio beers, and ice cream, causing your diet to suffer. This can become problematic when you want to hit the beach and feel confident in your bathing suit.
 When it starts to become difficult to button up your cut-offs, it's time to reel it in. Thats where this salad comes in. A fresh, light salad that is satisying but won't leave you feeling heavy or bloated.

Bloating is often a side-effect of water retention or consuming foods that are hard to digest. Common foods that cause bloating and stomache upset include processed foods with a lot of added salt, think potato chips, deli meats, and crackers. Other common culprits include dairy, wheat, and cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower.

A good way to combat bloating is to include lots of fruits and vegetables into your meals. The high water content keeps you hydrated, reducing the liklihood of unwanted water retention. The avocado, cucumber, and tomato in this salad also are good sources of Potassium, a mineral important in maintaining fluid balance in your body. Potassium acts like an antagonist to sodium.     While sodium draws water into the body, potassium helps to flush it out.

This salad contains grains and fat to help keep you feeling satisfied, but the oil-free dressing keeps it light, low in salt, and instead uses fresh herbs to add flavour.

On your next trip to the beach, try packing this in your picnic basket, and rock that bikini!

Summer Detox Salad

serves 2-3

1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

1 cup of chopped cucumber

1 avocado, diced

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

Juice of 1 small lemon

1/2 tsp grainy dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp fresh mint, finely chopped

1. Rinse and drain the quinoa then place the quinoa, 1/4 tsp salt, and 3/4 cup of water in a medium sized pot. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 8 minutes. remove from heat, let stand covered for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork, and cool.

2. Combine the quinoa, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and parsley.

3. Whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, soy sauce, cayenne, pepper, and mint. Pour over the quinoa and vegetables and stir to coat.