Quinoa Greek Salad Recipe with Tomatoes, Cucumber & Feta
Isn't there some saying about the lazy days of summer? I must be doing something wrong because my summertime groove isn't grooving yet. Each day, an overwhelming urge to nap hits at about 4pm. This is typically on the heels of supervising playdates, driving the kids to various activities, setting up sprinklers and supersoaker wars and...oh yeah...working. It seems I'm not quite in the swing of whole "lazy day" thing and I need another week or so until I get my summertime groove back.
Keeping up with this new pace of life means that easy lunch and dinner recipes are even more necessary than ever. This quinoa salad, with the flavors of a traditional Greek salad, comes together quickly and can be served as a side dish or a full meal. If you want to serve it as the main course, add some chickpeas or cannellini beans for a hit of protein.
If you want to make mealtime prep even faster, use some of that quinoa that you have stored away in your freezer. What? No ziploc bags of quinoa in your freezer? Believe me, this is a time-saver that you don't want to miss.
You remember this photo that I slaved over for my post on How to: Freeze Quinoa, right? Yeah, one of my crazier moments.
This recipe requires about 3 cups of cooked quinoa. Gently stir in halved grape tomatoes, cubed cucumbers, feta cheese and Kalamata olives, then toss with a simple dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar and oregano.
That's it. Done.
Now you have some extra time to enjoy those "lazy" summer days.
The recipe:
In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa and water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook until all of the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
Transfer the cooked quinoa to a large baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Let it cool to room temperature.
Transfer the quinoa to a medium-sized bowl and add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and feta cheese. Stir gently to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
Pour the dressing over the quinoa salad and stir to combine. Serve.
Other summer salad recipes:
Strawberry, Pistachio, Feta Cheese & Basil Salad
Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini Salad with Feta, Chickpeas & Mint
Printable Recipe
Quinoa Greek Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumber & Feta Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup quartered cucumber rounds
- ¼ cup quartered kalamata olives
- ¼ cup feta cheese
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa and water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook until all of the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
- Transfer the cooked quinoa to a large baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Let it cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the quinoa to a medium-sized bowl and add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and feta cheese. Stir gently to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the quinoa salad and stir to combine. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Min
Hi Dara! Your blog is so lovely! Your pictures are stunning and the recipes all sound so delicious. I love quinoa in salads! Ever since I succeeded in getting my husband into liking it, I have to make sure to cook extra batches. Freezing quinoa sounds like the perfect solution. Thank you so much for the mention! I sure do appreciate it.
Cassie
I love quinoa all ways. Great flavors, Dara!
Carla @ Carlas Confections
Oh man I am loving this! Pinned! I love the tiny little quinoa speckled everywhere. So pretty 😀
Mr. & Mrs. P
Such a fresh and delicious salad!! Love the bright summery colors
Crystal @ Simply Playful Fare
I just posted a quinoa salad last week! Must be something in the air. This one looks so good! You really can get super creative with quinoa. I love all of these flavors. I've got to try this! 🙂
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Gorgeous! I want a big bowl of this salad for lunch today!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
One of my favorite summer salads!
kirsten@FarmFreshFeasts
Dara,
This is a wonderful looking salad. I bet I could use the sun dried tomatoes I've got in the fridge while I wait for the tomatoes to ripen around here.
Thanks!
Brianna
Yummy! What a delicious sounding summer salad. It's so pretty too, perfect for a backyard party 🙂
Liz
Sounds and looks wonderful. Thank you.