Groovy Recipe: Kinda Greek Quinoa Salad

My friend Peanee recently embarked on a vegan journey; she and my other vegan friend, LMB,have inspired me to follow a more vegetarian lifestyle.  Don't get me wrong.  Babydoll's Daddy and I still eat meat.  I braised some kick-ass short ribs the other night.  But between BD's IBS, Peanee, LMB, and my herbivore baby, I've really started exploring meat-free cuisine.  Another friend, Victoria (aka Canadian Mama), posted on Facebook recently that she whipped up a quinoa Greek thing with sauteed veggies that triggered the idea for this Groovy Recipe.

Kinda Greek Quinoa Salad

* serves a bunch (like 6-8)

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

4 radishes, quartered and thinly sliced

1 English cucumber, quartered and thinly sliced

2 medium zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced

Handful of grated carrot

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red pepper, petite dice ("cut into small, equal pieces")

Fresh oregano leaves (like a small mound in your hand's worth)

1 cup crumbled feta

1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives

Juice of one fat lemon

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

Romaine hearts (3 per serving)

Salt

Pepper

Juice the lemon into a glass bowl and whisk in the olive oil; season with rosemary, salt and pepper, and set aside.

Make sure the quinoa is cooled - you don't want to cook all the veggies you just spent half an hour chopping.  In a large non-metal bowl (make sure it's good and big, there's a lot of stuff going into it), toss all the veggies, olives and feta with the dressing.  When everything is well-coated, fold in the quinoa.  Stir it up until everything is well-mixed.

Lay the Romaine hearts side by side on each plate, slightly overlapping.  Mound the quinoa salad on each heart.  Serve.  Grub.

I had planned on serving this with hummus and pita, but Babydoll and her daddy ate it while I was plating the food.  Ah well.  I love the flavor of fresh herbs in a salad.  My parents grow oregano, basil, and thyme in abundance, so I always grab a fistful when we go over to their house.

Groovy Tip: when buying bell peppers, flip it over and look at the bumps on the bottom.  Four bumps are better for cooking (sauteeing, grilling, or stuffing).  Three bumps are better for eating raw, as in this salad.

Why no metal bowls?  Because we're using an acidic ingredient (the lemon) and acid reacts to the metal.


I just noticed that my last three posts have all been recipes.  I haven't been too inspired by much else than feeding my family lately.  Work sucks.