Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Spinach, Feta and Quinoa Salad


Tonight I decided to make yet another quinoa salad. My inspiration was Citrus, Quinoa, and Spinach Salad from the Sunset magazine. I made their recipe the other day but found green onions to be too strong and decided to use mini heirloom tomatoes instead in my variation. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients


½ cup of white quinoa
4 oz of light feta cheese, crumbled
10 -12 mini heirloom tomatoes, sliced in quarters
2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves
1 teaspoon of red chili flakes
1 clove of garlic, minced
Zest and juice of ½ fresh lemon
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a pan combine dried quinoa and water. (Ratio of quinoa to water should be 1:2, but I noticed that when cooking half a cup few extra tablespoons of water are needed). Bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so that quinoa is boiling, cover the pan with a lid, let cook for about 10-15 minutes until all water is absorbed and you can fork the quinoa.

In a meantime, prepare the dressing. Combine lemon juice, lemon zest, chili flakes, garlic and olive oil in a small bowl and mix the ingredients. 

In a large salad bowl combine spinach, tomatoes, feta cheese and warm quinoa and the dressing. Mix all ingredients together. Warm quinoa will wilt spinach just a little bit. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!


As for dessert I had a square of Theo Chocolate Bar with Mint. Theo Chocolate uses organic fair trade chocolate and is the only bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US and they are located here, in Seattle!!! They also have factory tours. I plan on going to one very soon. I hope my trainer approves of 70% dark chocolate bite :)


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