Happy Wednesday!
As I mentioned yesterday, I am on a quinoa kick. At the beginning of the week I usually prepare a large batch of quinoa so that I am able to enjoy it easily throughout the week.
I generally add the quinoa into a big mixed greens salad or serve it alongside of some chicken kabobs or stir-fry, but sometimes I get fancy. I got fancy this week.
After taking inventory in the fridge, I realized that IÂ had just about everything I needed to make a Greek inspired quinoa dish: quinoa, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil from the farmer’s market, red onion, red bell peppers, feta cheese, and everything I need to make my own Greek dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, spices). The only thing I had to buy at the grocery store to make this salad complete was kalamata olives.
This dish involves a little bit of chopping and mixing, but all in all it is pretty simple! I made my own dressing but you could certainly buy your favorite Greek or Italian salad dressing at the store in this salad, and that would be just fine.
What’s great about this dish is that you can make it the night before you want to eat it, and just add finishing touches right before you serve it.
So to begin, I had cooked a huge batch of quinoa with half chicken broth and half water. I scooped two cups of the cooked quinoa into a medium bowl. Then I chopped up zucchini, red onion, red bell pepper, grape and cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives. I mixed the quinoa and veggies and set them aside.
Then, I mixed up my dressing (the recipe is below). I poured half of the dressing over the quinoa and combined it gently into the salad. I covered the salad and put it in the fridge for the night.
The next day I removed the salad from the fridge, added in the rest of the dressing, gave it a stir and topped it with fresh feta cheese and fresh basil!
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Botta bing, botta boom! Beautiful. I couldn’t stop snapping photos, it was just so pretty!
| Greek Quinoa Salad | Print |
- 3 cups cooked quinoa (cooked in half chicken broth and half water)
- ½ cup red pepper, diced
- ½ cup zucchini, diced
- ½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
- ⅓ cup red onion, diced finely
- ½ cup feta cheese
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil, cut into shreds
- Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1½ tsp. dried oregano
- 1½ tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ Tbsp. ground mustard
- cracked black pepper
- In a small container, mix up the dressing. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine quinoa, red pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, red onion, and half of the dressing. Give it a gentle stir, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight (or for a couple of hours).
- The next day, remove the salad and add in the remainder of the dressing, mix to combine. Finish by sprinkling feta cheese and fresh basil on top of salad. Enjoy!!
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Love this quinoa recipe! It looks so summery and I love all the colors! Quinoa is definitely a staple in my house and I love that it’s super easy to make and very versatile.
Holly @ EatGreatBEGreat recently posted…WIAW #10 — Homemade Pizza
It IS so great! We need to spread the word on the greatness of quinoa. 🙂
Oh I am so excited to make this recipe – looks like a good mix of some of the flavors we ate last weekend. And I love quinoa!! And adding fresh veggies to it. Total drooling. 🙂
Katie @ running4cupcakes recently posted…Ellie {+giveaway}
Make a big batch! You’ll be happy you did.
Oh my goodness, I knew I would love this from the moment I saw it on instagram! Anything with quinoa, black olives and fresh veggies always screams my name 🙂 And anything that is quick to make and good for leftovers always goes to the top of my list. Can’t wait to try this in Chicago!!
Becky @ Olives n Wine recently posted…#2 WIAW – Treat Yourself Tuesday
The leftovers were even better than the first day!
This looks awesome! I love Greek flavors. I would love to make a big batch up on Sunday and have lunch for the entire week. 🙂
Sounds like a great idea. I might even add garbonzo beans to it next time!
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