Click here for a printable PDF recipe card Greek Quinoa Salad

I came up with this recipe because I needed something to go with my Greek Beef Kebabs and when I originally made it these were the ingredients I had on hand without having to go to the store.

I think you’ll really like this!!  It’s healthy and tastes so fresh.  It can be used as a side dish or as it’s own meal.  It would make a great, healthy lunch that you could easily mix a lean protein into, such as grilled chicken.

There are two parts to this recipe.  One is the salad and the other is the dressing to mix into it.  But they kind of happen simultaneously, which saves you time and helps those flavors come together.

Ingredients for the salad & dressing: quinoa; water; garlic; salt; English cucumber; grape tomatoes; fresh spinach; crumble feta cheese.

Ingredients for the dressing: olive oil; lemon juice; fresh dill; salt; pepper.

First, you need to cook the quinoa.  Standard package directions always call for a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water, so that makes it easy to remember and easy to adjust for the serving size you want to cook.  They typically give you directions for cooking 1 cup of quinoa.  That makes A LOT of quinoa.  So if it’s just two of you in the house (like it is for us 🙂 ) then you’ll want to cut back on that.  The recipe is easy to adjust (double, triple, etc.).

I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, so I used 1 cup of water.  I also added salt and garlic to it to give it some flavor.  It took the 1/2 cup quinoa about 13 minutes to cook.  After it’s cooked, keep the lid on and let it rest for 5 minutes to finish absorbing any liquid.

This is a COLD salad.  So how are you going to make this happen when you need it in a snap?  The freezer for cooling 🙂

Spread the cooked quinoa on a dinner plate and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.

While it’s cooling make the dressing first.  After you chop your fresh dill, whisk it with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Put it on the side so the flavors can get happy!

Now peel and chop the cucumber

Cut the grape tomatoes in half

Grab a large handful of spinach, stack the leaves on top each other, and julienne

Stir together the cooled quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, and the dressing.  Then stir in the feta (we’re trying to keep it intact).  In case you don’t like feta, I’ve made this with small cubes of mozzarella cheese because that’s what I had on hand and it was still delicious!

Serve immediately or refrigerate and save for mealtime (I made mine 7 hours in advance it the spinach held up really well).

Click here for a printable PDF recipe card Greek Quinoa Salad