This salad does well as lunch, as a side, or as a quick dinner when you add chicken or chickpeas. The base is quinoa, a seed that cooks in 15 minutes and holds up in the fridge better than most grains. Add crisp vegetables, salty olives and feta, plenty of herbs, and a sharp lemon dressing, and you have something that’s more interesting than its ingredients.
Avocado goes in at the end so it stays green and creamy.
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About this dish
Fresh, herby and bright, with a nutty bite from the quinoa, creamy avocado, salty olives and feta, and a sharp lemon dressing. It’s filling without being heavy.
It’s good for lunch boxes, picnics and potlucks, because it holds up well at room temperature.
Prep 15 min · Cook 20 min · Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup (185 g) dry quinoa
- 1 3/4 cups (420 ml) water, plus a pinch of salt
- 1 pint (300 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 can (15 oz / 400 g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed, optional
- 1/2 cup (75 g) Kalamata olives, halved
- 1/2 cup (75 g) crumbled feta
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- 2 ripe avocados, diced
Dressing
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Method
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve under cold water for a minute. This removes saponins, the natural coating that can make it taste bitter.
- Put the quinoa, water and a pinch of salt in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
- Spread the quinoa on a tray to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Soak the sliced red onion in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain. This takes the harsh edge off.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add the warm quinoa and toss so it absorbs some of the dressing.
- Add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, chickpeas, olives, parsley and mint. Toss, then fold in the feta.
- Taste for salt and lemon. Add the avocado just before serving and fold in gently.
Tips
- Always rinse the quinoa. It makes a noticeable difference to the flavor.
- Use a 1 to 1.75 ratio of quinoa to water, not 1 to 2. The extra water makes it mushy.
- Dress the quinoa while it’s still warm, so it absorbs more flavor.
- Salt each component a little as you go. Quinoa needs more seasoning than you’d expect.
Storage
Without the avocado, the salad keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Add avocado fresh to each portion. Take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before eating so the olive oil loosens up.
Variations
- Add grilled chicken, shrimp or hard-boiled eggs to turn it into a dinner.
- Swap quinoa for couscous, bulgur or farro.
- Use roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts or sun-dried tomatoes in place of olives.
About the ingredients
This is a modern salad, not a traditional dish, and it mixes ingredients from two continents. Quinoa was domesticated in the Andes more than 5,000 years ago, and the Inca are said to have called it the mother grain. It’s one of the few plant foods that contains all nine essential amino acids, which is why it’s often valued as a source of protein. Avocados come from Mexico and Central America.
What makes it Mediterranean is the seasoning: olive oil, lemon, oregano, herbs, olives and feta. The term Mediterranean diet became widely known in the 1950s and 60s through the work of the American physiologist Ancel Keys, who studied eating habits in several countries. The style of cooking he described, based on olive oil, vegetables, grains and legumes, is the foundation of dishes like this one.
After the Spanish conquest, quinoa cultivation is generally reported to have declined in the Andes, and the grain only returned to world markets in the late 20th century. The United Nations named 2013 the International Year of Quinoa to draw attention to the crop, which is why it became so visible on menus in recent years.
