Let me give you a quick low down on this recipe:
1. I can’t keep letting you pronounce quinoa incorrectly. Growing up, my sister used to correct my grammar and spelling incessantly, so I can’t help that I’m now hyper aware of things like pronunciation.
So, back to the topic at hand: quinoa = keen – wah
2. When you’re planting your garden this year, be sure to plant red onions, cherry tomatoes and english cucumbers because you’re going to need them when you start making this salad weekly. Oh, and plant lots of quinoa. Just kidding about the quinoa…although now I’m googling what it would take to raise quinoa. I’ll let you know my findings. Meanwhile, make this salad and fall in love with it like I did. <3
Ingredients:
Salad:
1 C. quinoa, uncooked
1 english cucumber, quartered lengthwise & cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 medium red onion, chopped small
10 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese (optional if you’re not a feta fan!)
1/2 C. kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 C. marinated artichokes, chopped
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, rinsed & drained
Dressing:
1/2 C. olive oil
1/4 C. lemon juice (juice from approx. from 2 lemons)
1/4 C. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
3 cloves garlic, grated/pressed or minced
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside to cool COMPLETELY. Short on time? Prep the quinoa a day ahead & place it in the refrigerator so it’s ready to roll for tossing in the salad!
Prep the remaining salad ingredients & toss in a large bowl. Add quinoa once cooled and toss to incorporate.
Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk OR place all dressing ingredients in a mason jar, close securely with these re-usable lids (lids for:regular mouth jars or wide mouth jars), and shake!
Pour dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl and toss to coat evenly OR keep dressing separate and drizzle over each serving. Note: Quinoa will absorb some of the dressing if tossed then stored!
Store salad in the fridge in an air-tight container (either tossed or dressing stored separately to avoid quinoa soaking up the dressing).