Quinoa Salad With Lime Ginger Dressing and Shrimp

I've been making an effort to look for healthier recipes lately and I came across this one from NYTimes.com(their healthy recipes section is awesome by the way!) I made a full recipe, enjoyed some that day, and put the rest into 3 containers so now I have healthy lunches for the next few days! This salad tasted so fresh and had so much flavor and wasn't too hard to make! Oh and apparently quinoa is pretty expensive so I swapped it out for some bulgur, but I'm sure you could use any sort of healthy whole grain. I also left out the buttermilk in the dressing because I didn't have any, and it tasted fine to me. You could also make this vegetarian by leaving out the shrimp and substituting avocado instead. SO good and SO good for you:)

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (more to taste)
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil or walnut oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk (** I left this out)

For the salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 cup uncooked) (** I used bulgur instead)
4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin
1 small cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 to 16 cooked medium shrimp, peeled (**I tossed the raw shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasted them for 5 min. in the oven at 400 degrees)

Directions:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lime juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne, sesame oil, canola oil, and buttermilk.

In a salad bowl, combine the quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro. Toss with the dressing and divide among salad plates. Top each portion with 3 or 4 shrimp, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. You can make the dressing and prep the ingredients for the salad a few hours ahead.