I know what you’re thinking….yay, yet another recipe for quinoa. And I admit, I do agree that there are a TON of quinoa salad recipes out there right now. Mine isn’t extra different, but it is supa easy and supa quick. So if you’re in need of something to take to a party/get-together, hopefully this can help you out!

I made this for my Kappa Delta Alum meeting that I went to last night, and it was a big hit! The amount I made was A LOT, so feel free to cut the recipe in half, etc. The quinoa grows a lot after it gets done boiling, so expect to have leftovers!

Simple Cucumber & Tomato Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 cups quinoa, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium cucumber
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1,  4 oz. package crumbled feta cheese
• 3/4 cup  zesty light Italian dressing
• 1 tsp Dill weed
• Salt/pepper to taste

Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the 3 cups of quinoa, bring back to a boil, cover, and reduce heat until the mixture is at a nice low boil. Let the quinoa simmer for 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat, stir, and quickly recover to let it sit for around 5-10 minutes. This is where the quinoa will finish soaking up the water and will continue to grow!

While you let the quinoa cool, chop up your tomatoes, cucumber, and onion into small chunks. Once the quinoa is mostly cool, stir in your chopped veggies. Next stir in the Italian dressing, dill weed, and salt & pepper. Your salad may need more or less dressing, so add the liquid slowly until you know how much dressing is right for your mixture. You want it to be fairly ‘dry’; your quinoa should not be dripping with dressing!

Last, mix in the feta cheese by gently folding it in. You want to be able to still see the chunks, so don’t over-mix! I found this awesome stuff at my grocery store that definitely added an extra kick of flavor.

Tomato basil feta = yum! Plain feta will do the job as well, no worries.

You can serve the salad immediately, but I found it’s the best to cover it and refrigerate an hour or so (or even overnight!) to really let the quinoa start to soak up the yummy flavors. I personally let mine sit overnight and had to add a little more dressing before serving it yesterday. I think the quinoa starts to soak up the dressing, so if you need extra dressing, just keep it handy!

Super fresh, easy, and healthy! It was a hit with our BBQ meal last night. And I’ll be enjoying it for a few more days. 🙂

Happy cooking!