Name: Roasted Vegetable Feta Quinoa Salad
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa, cooked; 1 cup cherry tomatoes; 1 roasted red pepper; 1 cup roasted vegetables (cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant); 3 tbsp feta cheese; 1 cup arugula; 2 tbsp dill, fresh finely chopped; 1 scallion, finely chopped; 1-2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans (optional); salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil to taste

You’ll love this healthy roasted vegetable feta quinoa salad as a side dish or a light lunch! Packed with cherry tomatoes, arugula and roasted peppers this simple quinoa salad is perfect for summer!

To make it much faster, I recommend you cook the quinoa and roast or grill the vegetables whenever you’ve got 20-30 minutes. This way you can throw this salad together for a quick healthy meal during the week in like 5 minutes.

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

Quinoa. It’s rich in fiber, gluten-free and great in salads. We’re using cooked quinoa; any variety will work for this salad (when I was updating the recipe, I only had the tricolor kind)

Cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes are very rich in antioxidants and super delicious! I used cherry tomatoes, but any sort of tomatoes will be great for this salad. In general, I recommend using tomatoes when they’re in season (summer!).

Roasted red pepper (and cauliflower). You can also use roast some zucchini, eggplant, cauliflower or whichever type of vegetable you like that is in season. If you don’t have any roasted vegetables, it’s really easy to make your own in like 10 minutes. You just need to chop that vegetable, add some salt and olive oil and roast in a pan, on the grill or in the oven. The fastest way I’ve found is on the stove, grill would be my second choice.

Feta cheese. It’s salty, delicious, lower in lactose and actually contains probiotics. We’re adding some to our salad – it’s the perfect contrast to the sweet tomatoes and roasted peppers. Feta is pretty salty, so you might want to skip on the salt for this salad.

Scallions, dill, garlic and arugula. I love these in salads! They add so much flavor and are super healthy too. Something else I would’ve loved to add to this salad would be mint or basil. If you have those in your garden, try it out!

Olive oil and lemon juice. Skipping on other dressings, because this salad doesn’t need a fancy dressing. Plus, it’s too much work.

Optional: Chopped walnuts or pecans. I love adding some nuts or seeds to salad – a tbsp or so for some crunch and nuttiness. I find it goes really well with the garlic and roasted peppers.

How To Make Quinoa Salad With Feta And Roasted Vegetables

Making this delicious quinoa salad is super super easy if you’ve done your homework over the weekend:

Prepare your quinoa and vegetables over the weekend
Throw all ingredients into a bowl
Mix!

Enjoy for lunch or quick dinner!

How To Cook Quinoa

If you don’t have cooked quinoa, you can cook your quinoa in around 20 minutes.

Wash your quinoa with hot water to remove the saponins that give it a bitter taste.
Add to a sauce pan with water, ratio 1:2.
Bring to a boil, then let it simmer until water is absorbed (about 6-7 minutes).
Turn the heat off and let the quinoa sit with lid on for 10 minutes – this way it will get fluffy.
Store your cooked quinoa in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

How To Roast Vegetables

If you haven’t been grilling or roasting vegetables lately, you can roast some cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini or red peppers with some olive oil, salt and optionally garlic.

Simply slice your vegetables length-wise or in circles, cauliflower in bite-sized pieces, rub with the oil and salt and roast in the oven, on the stove or on the grill on both sides.

It usually takes me no longer than 10-15 minutes for all these vegetables.

Delicious Healthy Additions

If available, feel free to experiment and add these healthy foods to your salad:

cucumbers
mint
basil
parsley
toasted sesame seeds
chopped and pitted Kalamata olives
chickpeas
toasted sunflower seeds
hummus
tzatziki

or whatever your taste buds desire!

Dietary Restrictions

This salad is:

vegetarian,
nut-free
egg-free
gluten-free
soy-free
low in lactose

It is not dairy-free, so if you are, maybe leave out the dairy and add in some olives or capers.

I really hope you try and enjoy this delicious summer salad with your family! If you do, don’t forget to leave a comment and a positive review, so that more people can find and try it out!