I love salad. I love spinach salad, I love pasta salad, kale salad, but in this particular instance, I love quinoa salad! I made up this concoction the other day I when I was having a friend over for lunch. It was relatively quick, easy, and extremely delicious. I did a larger batch of it too which means leftovers for lunch or dinner! While most "salads" you wouldn't want to have as a leftover because the greens become soggy, pasta and other grain salads almost become more delicious as the flavors are able to marinate together longer. Yum! I almost want to stop blogging and go make this again for lunch.
Hopefully by the title of this blog post and by looking at the first picture you knew that quinoa was going to be the base of this dish. Quinoa has gained in popularity the last several years, but it is still fun when I find people who have never had it before, nor know how to pronounce it...:) It is a great staple to always have on hand in your kitchen because it is one of the quickest cooking grains and goes great with just about anything. We often have it with beans, steamed kale, and some sort of homemade sauce like garlic tahini. Message me if you want that recipe.
These are the other ingredients that make up the flavor of the dish. Grape tomatoes, basil, red onion, fresh lemon juice, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and capers. Not only that, but the last four ingredients came from a can or jar so you might already have some of this on hand.
I'd say that's a pretty bowl! Just need to add the lemon juice and then mix it all together.
Speaking of lemon juice....did you know that when using fresh lemons at your house, if you roll them on a hard surface with the palm of your hand that it will help release more of the juice? It's true! Try it.
Almost done! By the way, the tool above is a citrus reamer. Basically like a kung fu grip for your lemons and limes. Ours gets used just about every day.
Stir and enjoy. Violâ!!
Want the recipe? Here you go! Let me know what you think and share with your friends.
Mediterranean Quinoa
makes about 10 cups
Ingredients
2 cups dry quinoa (should make about 6 cups cooked)
1 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, quartered
1/2 cup basil, sliced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 tablespoons capers, minced
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 lemon, juiced
Directions
Add quinoa to 2 2/3 cups of water and bring to a bowl. Once boiling, turn heat to low, cover, and let cook for another 15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with spoon or fork and allow to cool to room temperature.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!