Summer Greek Quinoa Salad
This healthy Greek quinoa salad features baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, almonds and a tangy lemon dressing. Works as a make-ahead lunch option and is a total crowd pleaser at summer cookouts.
Hiya! I hope your week is off to an awesome start. I started mine with a shaky Pure Barre class so I’m feeling gooood.
You know what else I’m feeling? Quinoa salad!
I’ve decided that I need a go-to quinoa salad recipe for every season. I already have one for spring so now it’s time for a summery version.
Throughout the summer months our local farmers market is bursting with juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and gorgeous fresh herbs so I decided to combine all these things into a Greek influenced quinoa salad.
I’ve been making Greek quinoa salad for years — namely this version with white beans — but today’s version is a tad different. The base is essentially the same, but there’s cucumber and blanched almonds added for a little crunch, feta cheese(!!), and instead of fresh avocado I used nutrient-rich avocado oil. You still get the subtle avocado flavor and creaminess, but no brown chunks or mushiness when you serve the leftover salad.
I also left the beans out this time around since I know not everyone is a fan, but feel free to add white beans or chickpeas if you’d like. They’re a great addition — especially if you’re serving this as a main rather than a side dish.
I whipped up this salad to serve alongside roasted chicken for dinner on Friday night and then Isaac and I used the leftovers as a salad topping throughout the weekend. We both loved the flavor and agreed that the cucumbers, almonds and feta were a good addition.
Having a big batch of this in the fridge made mealtime almost effortless this weekend. I’m actually tempted to make another batch today for the week!
A healthy quinoa salad featuring some of the best produce summer has to offer, feta cheese, almonds and a tangy lemon dressing. Perfect as a make-ahead lunch option or a summer cookout side dish.
Author: Brittany Mullins Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 2 cups roughly chopped baby spinach
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup avocado oil ( or olive oil)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup blanched almond slices
Instructions
- Cook quinoa in water, according to package directions. Let cool.
- In a medium bowl, stir together quinoa, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, red onion, basil and parsley.
- In a small bowl, whisk together red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.
- Pour dressing over quinoa salad and toss to combine. Top with almond slices.
- Serve immediately or let the salad chill in the fridge a couple hours before serving.
Nutrition Information Serving size: ⅙ of recipe Calories: 306 Fat: 19g Carbohydrates: 27g Sugar: 5g Fiber: 4g Protein: 8g
3.3.3070
I used Ancient Harvest traditional quinoa for this recipe. It’s my favorite brand of quinoa for many reasons (learn why in this post).
If you end up making this recipe (or any others for that matter) be sure to come back and leave a comment or share a photo of social media and tag me (@eatingbirdfood or #eatingbirdfood) so that I see it. I love seeing and sharing your EBF creations. It literally makes my day! <3
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