This simple spinach quinoa salad tossed in a lemon-cumin-sumac dressing is full of fresh flavors! Get all the nutritious benefits of quinoa, spinach, fresh herbs and juicy cherry tomatoes paired with delicious Greek feta and crunchy pine nuts. Recipe yields 4 side servings or 2 main dish servings.
Course
Salad, Side Dish
Category
Mediterranean
Prep Time15minutes
Cook Time20minutes
Total Time35minutes
Servings4
Calories549kcal
AutorElle
Ingredients
For the salad:
1cupuncooked quinoa,rinsed (200 g)
2generous handfuls baby spinach leaves,any hard stems removed, chopped
1small bunch flat-leaf parsley,chopped
1/2a small bunch fresh dillchopped (about 4 tablespoons)
1tablespoonfreshly chopped mint
175gfeta,crumbled
1-2handfuls cherry tomatoes,halved
1/3cuppine nuts,lightly toasted (40 g)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,to taste
For the dressing:
6tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil
3tablespoonsfreshly squeezed lemon juice
1shallot,finely chopped
1/2tspground cumin
1/2tspdried sumac
1tspmaple syrup
1/2tspsea salt
1/2tspgrated lemon zest
Method
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!
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.