Thursday, August 16, 2012

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I keep trying to eat healthier.  I know I should but the cakes, cookies and candies just keep screaming my name.  I've gotten so bad that I even put frosting on muffins and cookies half the time right now.

But I was craving something that was good for me so I wanted to make this Orzo Mediterranean Salad and bought all the ingredients to do it (sort of).  When I went to make it for my lunch I found I was out of orzo.  Coulda sworn I saw some just the other day :-( But I did find some Quinoa...

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup zucchini , cubed ( I threw it in with the quinoa to cook in the last 5 minutes of cooking)
1/2 of a red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, pick your favorite, coarsely chopped
8 pieces of sundried tomatoes, finely chopped 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil  
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (you could use white)
1/2 tsp. dried basil (or 1 tsp fresh, chopped)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
feta cheese, crumbled, to taste (I like ALOT!!!)

Directions:

1. Cook  1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water for about 10-15 minutes or until cooked. Add the zucchini in the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Allow to cool.
2. Combine red, pepper, olives, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Add cooked and cooled quinoa and stir well.  Stir in feta cheese and basil just before serving.



3 comments:

Elle said...

I love this! I love easy salads that you can make and have for a couple of days for easy lunch. Lunch always seems to be a hard thing for me to figure out.

Patsyk said...

What a great salad! I've been playing around with flavors and ingredients with wheatberries, which are another great option for salads like this.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Thanks Elle! It's perfect for a quick lunch. Make the quinoa in the morning though so it has a chance to cool.

I think Wheatberries would work perfect with this Patsy! Let me know if you try it!