Greek Quinoa Salad

Oooookay! Have I got a recipe for you! No, but seriously, you gotta try this! Reasons I love this salad:
1. It’s quinoa and quinoa is awesome.
2. It’s a cold salad and it is over 100 degrees every day (where I live in AZ).
3. It was pretty easy to throw together.
4. I used fresh tomatoes from my brothers garden that were amazing.
4. It tasted out of this world.
5. My husband liked this no-meat dinner! After the first bite he said “wow this is good!” I think he was pleasantly surprised how much he liked it. YAY!

Serve this with a side of warm naan bread or pita bread and you have an easy, filling dinner. My kids didn’t love this meal, but I was able to get them to eat some. And of course they liked the garlic naan bread on the side so it worked out okay.

Greek Quinoa Salad

 

Print

Ingredients

• For the dressing:
• 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove (smashed to a paste)
• kosher salt & pepper, to taste
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• For the salad:
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups red &/or yellow grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 2 green onions (green & pale green part) thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber, peeled & cut into small pieces
• feta cheese, to taste

Instructions

1. For the dressing: Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, oregano, garlic and some salt & pepper in a small bowl. Slowly add in the oil until combined. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
2. For the salad: Rinse the quinoa until water runs clear. Combine the quinoa, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt & ½ teaspoon pepper in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender (about 15 min).
3. Transfer the cooked quinoa to a bowl and fluff with a fork. Then let it sit for 5 minutes to cool. Add the tomatoes, red pepper, olives, green onions, cucumbers & dressing. Toss to coat.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours before serving. The longer it sits, the better the flavor. Sprinkle plenty of feta on top just before serving.

Notes

This recipe is very adaptable. I used a regular cucumber but Bobby Flay used an english cucumber. I added a red pepper but omitted the red onion & cherry peppers, although I'm sure they would be great if you wanted to add them. I highly recommend the kalamata olives. I believe they make this dish!

3.2.2925