these three gorgeous salads are perfect for summer.

They're great as side dishes or as the main event.

This quinoa salad is sure to be a hit at any pot luck you're attending.

I love it because I make it in a huge batch and I can eat it all week long.

So, we're starting with some beautifully cooked quinoa.

I'm using a mixture of red and white quinoa.

You can use any kind of quinoa you have on hand.

I cooked mine up with some vegetable stock and a little bit of garlic.

It gives the quinoa a bit of flavor.

My recipe is in the description below if you want to check it out.

To that, I'm gonna be adding some asparagus.

All I did was quarter it and then steam it off very, very quickly

so it's beautiful and cooked already.

To that I'm gonna add some fresh cut zucchini.

You can add cucumber if you prefer that over fresh zucchini,

then I'm adding some corn,

a little bit of red bell pepper, and finally some red onion.

Lots of color in this dish.

It's beautiful.

It uses all the flavors of summer which is amazing

then we're gonna make a really simple dressing for this salad

with just olive oil, a little bit of white wine vinegar,

some lemon juice, and some salt and pepper,

then we're gonna top it all off with some feta cheese

because feta cheese takes everything to the next level.

This salad is ready to go.

It travels beautifully and

in almost no time at all you have this gorgeous quinoa salad that your guests are going to absolutely love.

This is one of my all time favorite summer salads.

I call it my rainbow slaw because it uses beautiful red cabbage,

gorgeous orange carrots, and of course some nice green kale.

Now, what I love about this salad is because we're using really hearty vegetables

it can stand up to being dressed for a long period of time.

So, once it's dressed it'll last three or four days in the fridge and

it just gets better the longer it sits.

Kale can be a bit hard to chew

so it's nice when it's in smaller pieces.

So I really finally diced it

then to that I'm gonna add my red cabbage.

Now, I shredded it really finely.

If you're not competent with your knife skills

go ahead and put it in the good processor,

pulse it a few times, let it do the work for you.

Finally, I shredded some beautiful carrot with my grater.

I love shredding carrot

because it makes it the same texture as the rest of the vegetables.

To that, I'm gonna add just a little bit of red onion for flavor

and then I'm gonna set this aside and make my dressing.

This dressing could not be easier.

It features a little bit of olive oil, some white wine vinegar.

If you don't have white wine vinegar

go ahead and use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar will work just as well.

To that I'm going to add some honey

and a little bit of garlic and some salt and pepper.

We're just gonna shake it up in a mason jar, pour it over the salad,

give it a stir, and then let this guy sit for at least just a few hours before serving

so it can absorb all the delicious dressing.

It's perfect as a side dish at a party

or forget it, leave it in your fridge and eat it all yourself.

Totally yummy and beautiful to look at.

This delicious bean salad is absolutely irresistible and it's super filling

so it's perfect for vegetarians.

You can literally use all of the ingredients you see in front of you

or pick and choose whatever you have on hand.

It's not a fussy dish which is what I really love about it.

The base of this beautiful bean salad, of course, beans.

I'm using canned mixed beans that I've rinsed and drained.

You can use any kind of beans you have on hand.

To that I'm adding some corn.

Now, I'm cheating with canned corn

but if you have fresh corn on hand

that is much, much better so go ahead and use that.

To that, I'm gonna add some beautiful green beans.

Now, I just cut these up and steam them really quickly

so they're ready to eat and then some beautiful tomatoes.

Now, I'm using cherry tomatoes.

You can use any kind of tomato you have on hand.

We've got some bell pepper, a little bit of red onion.

I'm hitting it with about a half a jalapeno for a teeny bit of heat.

If you are not into heat, omit the jalapeno.

It's not gonna make or break this by any stretch.

Then we're gonna add the juice of two limes,

some red wine vinegar, a little bit of olive oil, and some taco seasoning.

Now, this may sound a little crazy

but this is gonna give it this amazing southwestern flavor.

Some salt, some pepper, and then we're gonna finish it off with some chopped cilantro.

Again, if you're not a cilantro fan, leave it out, no big deal.

It's not gonna kill your salad.

You can also use parsley in place of cilantro if you prefer.

Now, you can eat this right away.

It's already delicious

but let me tell you it's even better when it sits in the fridge for a few hours or ideally overnight.

So, make it the night before and then have it at a picnic.

It is the perfect food to travel with and everyone will love you for it.

I hope you will give these beautiful salad recipes a try and if you do,

please be sure to tweet or instagram me a photo.

I've love to see how they turn out and be sure to subscribe to The Domestic Geek

because there's a lot more deliciousness where this came from.

(upbeat music)