Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed (200 g)
- 2 generous handfuls baby spinach leaves, any hard stems removed, chopped
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 a small bunch fresh dill chopped (about 4 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint
- 175 g feta, crumbled
- 1-2 handfuls cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (40 g)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the dressing:
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried sumac
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Rinse the uncooked quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Place in a medium saucepan and cook according to package instructions, for about 15 minutes. Once most of the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy, remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and let stand, covered, for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a large salad bowl to cool.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the dressing: Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, shallot, cumin, sumach, maple syrup, salt, and lemon zest in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the dressing on top of the quinoa and toss to combine. Add the spinach, parsley, dill, mint and crumbled feta, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts. Toss again, season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
- For mint lovers, feel free to add another tablespoon of mint. I kept it to 1 tablespoon for this recipe since mint has a tendency to dominate in flavor.
- Pine nuts are perfect in this salad. However, since they are so expensive, you could try substituting them with lightly toasted slivered almonds. The extra crunch is great with this salad.
- For this Spinach Quinoa Salad recipe, I use original greek feta made from 85% sheep’s milk and 15% goat’s milk. Look for the real stuff, it’s labeled with the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) to prove it.