Description
This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is a refreshing and nutritious dish packed with colorful vegetables, tangy feta cheese, and a zesty lemon vinaigrette. Perfect for a light lunch or a side dish for dinner.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the quinoa salad:
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked and rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 2 bell peppers, small diced (any color works—I used red and yellow)
- 1 English cucumber, small diced
- 1/2 medium red onion, small diced
- 1/4 cup capers, drained
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
For the lemon vinaigrette:
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing. Add the oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper to a small bowl and whisk together until fully emulsified. Set aside.
- Cook the quinoa. Add the quinoa and water to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let it steam for another 5 minutes. Spread on a baking sheet to cool.
- Make the salad. Combine cooled quinoa with bell peppers, cucumber, red onion, capers, parsley, and feta. Drizzle with lemon vinaigrette.
- Serve or chill. Enjoy immediately or chill to let flavors meld.
Notes
- You can customize this salad by adding other Mediterranean ingredients like olives, cherry tomatoes, or artichoke hearts.
- This salad can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a few days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: Approximately 250 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg