Project Description

This recipe uses our favourite homemade Greek Dressing that I normally use in a Greek salad. Serve this quinoa version of Greek salad as a side or on its own as a main for lunch. For a refreshing change, serve it as an appetizer – place a rounded teaspoon full on a slice of cucumber and cap with a half grape tomato. Pair with the homemade hummus and some naan and you have some great snacks for the patio!

Salad Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (boxed broth is fine)
• 1/2 large English cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 cup, roughly, of grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup, roughly, of feta, diced or crumbled
• 1/3 cup whole Kalamata olives
• Salt and pepper to taste

Greek Dressing:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (roughly 2 tbsp.)
• 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 4 grinds pepper
• 1 large clove of garlic, finely diced

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Lead Time: N/A

Freezer Friendly: No

Leftover Alert: N/A

Here's a Tip!

After rinsing, fry the quinoa till dry before adding the liquid. This imparts a hint of nutty flavouring to the quinoa

The quinoa needs to be cooked and mostly cooled before the remainder of the ingredients are added. These instructions take you through preparing this in one take, but you can also prepare the quinoa ahead of time, keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and use later when making this dish.

  1. First prepare the dressing so that the flavours can meld. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl, whisk together really well and set aside.
  2. Next start cooking the quinoa. Pour the measured quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse under running cold water. Drain well.
  3. Add the rinsed quinoa to a medium sized saucepan and heat on medium heat to dry the quinoa and lightly roast it. Add the chicken broth, mix well, cover and bring to a light boil. Turn the heat down and continue to cook until all the liquid has been evaporated (about 15 minutes). Take off the heat and fluff up the quinoa with a fork.
  4. While the quinoa is cooking, cut up the green onion, cucumber and peppers.
  5. Dump the cooked quinoa in a bowl large enough to contain the entire salad and spread out a little to allow it to cool (about 15 – 20 minutes).
  6. Add the cut up vegetables, grape tomatoes, feta and olives and mix well. Taste and add any salt and pepper to suit your taste. Serve immediately or cover the bowl to get an air-tight seal, refrigerate and serve later.
To enable you to quickly pull this dish together prepare the quinoa, chop the vegetables and make the dressing ahead of time. Keep them in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator and simply mix everything together to make a fresh batch!

These instructions take you through the creation of cucumber slices with Greek Quinoa paired with some homemade hummus and naan for a perfect summer appetizer. To pull this together:

  1. The night before, make the homemade hummus and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
  2. Follow this with the preparation of the quinoa, chopping of the vegetables and making the Greek Dressing. Also store these in separate airtight containers.
  3. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 F (for warming up the Naan).
  4. While the oven is preheating, toss together all the ingredients of the Greek Quinoa salad except for the grape tomatoes and olives. Slice the grapes tomatoes in half lengthwise and set aside.
  5. Slice a cucumber into 1/4″ slices and lay the slices out on a large serving dish.
  6. On a separate serving dish, place a large serving of hummus on one side, lightly spread, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle on a few olives.
  7. By this time the oven should be hot. Slice 6 pieces of Naan into wedges, lay out on a baking tray and place in the oven. Bake for 5-8 minutes  or until warmed but not dried out.
  8. While the Naan is baking, top the cucumber slices with the Greek Quinoa and top with a half a grape tomato.
  9. Remove the Naan, place the wedges in layers by the hummus and serve both appetizers immediately.
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