Sunday, July 18

Salad on Sunday: Red Quinoa Salad

I am crazy for quinoa (KEEN-wah) and have recently started searching out more recipes using this ‘super’ food. Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It is a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids. It also contains the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.

If you can’t find red quinoa don't worry, white quinoa works too. Mixed with a few vegetables, fresh herbs and a handful of feta cheese on a bed of mesclun, it makes for a perfect summer salad.

2 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup quinoa, red or white, rinsed

3 green onions, chopped
10 sundried tomatoes, reconstituted, thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, diced
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Assorted, young salad leaves (chervil, arugula, lettuce, spinach, endive)

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quinoa and cook on medium heat until the quinoa fully cooks and the water cooks off, 15 – 20 minutes. Allow quinoa to cool slightly.

Mix vegetables and thyme in a large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk in the Balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard, slowly adding in the olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir the quinoa into the vegetables, add the vinaigrette and gently stir in the feta. Serve atop assorted, young salad leaves.

Makes 5 cups

Photo courtesy of Kitchen Parade

12 comments:

Suzy in Seoul said...

I had never even heard of quinoa before and had to look it up. Apparently it's not available here. What's the texture like?

The recipe looks delicious, however, and I think I'll try it out with black rice.

Cheers. ^_^

ALL THE BEST said...

It is almost like a firmer couscous.

Karena said...

Ohh this sound delicious Ronda!!

Karena
Art by Karena

Anonymous said...

Quinoa is loaded with nutrients. It's considered a complete food! I've recently been incorporating it in my diet more while avoiding meat. One of my favorite ways to use it is to make a "burger" out of it. Love the salad recipe. I've done something similar in the past and enjoyed hot and cold!

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful salad. thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

What a yummy-sounding salad! Thanks so much for including the pronunciation. Actually had a conversation yesterday with someone when we were attempting to determine how to say it correctly!

Cristin // Simplified Bee said...

Love this salad! Going to make it tonight. Thanks!
xo,
cristin

JanReynoldsInteriors said...

Thanks for the recipe. I look forward to trying it.

Jan Reynolds

Anonymous said...

Hummm, it looks amazing!!!

Anonymous said...

Yum that salad looks so tasty (and beautiful too)!

Kimberly Grigg said...

I love trying new and creative vegetarian dishes almost as much as I love designing! This salad looks DELISH! Thanks for sharing! Your blog is FAB!

hadley said...

i am going to make this tomorrow. have a bunch of quinoa i bought after a cooking class and was wondering what i was going to do with it! thanks!