Greek Salad Quinoa Bowl Recipe – Healthy protein-packed Mediterranean vegetarian recipe with quinoa, chickpeas, herbs, Greek salad and feta
Online friend and fellow food blogger Jennifer Perillo pointed out on Facebook yesterday that Mercury is in retrograde. You may take astrology with a grain of salt (just like I take my French fries), but it sure would explain a lot about this month so far. Emotions are ramped up to the extreme, change is in the air and unexpected challenges are popping up Whac-A-Mole. But that’s life, right? Nobody has it “easy,” no matter how it may seem. Social media gives us this skewed perspective of how life plays out for those around us. People tend to share the celebration-worthy moments in their lives and leave out the rough patches. Facebook, as “social” as it may be, can actually feel like a pretty lonely place sometimes. These “social” networks don’t reflect reality. We all struggle, and everybody has their Mercury retrograde moments. It’s all about how you navigate the challenges. Do you shy away from them? Turn your back on the discomfort? Or view them as part of life’s learning process? I am slowly learning to welcome the challenges as opportunities for growth. And when the going gets really rough (which it does from time to time), I take a mental vacation… usually to the Greek islands.
I’ve never been to Greece, but it is at the very top of my bucket list. When I was a child, my grandfather would tell me colorful Greek tales– Zeus ruling Mount Olympus, Helen of Troy, the Trojan horse. I grew up knowing I had to visit this country, to soak in thousands of years of romantic, dramatic and tumultuous history. In the heart of the Mediterranean, Greece seems like the ideal place to take a break from reality. Sunny beaches, turquoise waters, ancient history, people with a love of food and a zest for life. Simple pleasures, healthy and delicious meals, a bouzouki playing in the distance… I wish I was there right this very moment.
Alas, Mediterranean travel is not in the cards right now. The superstitious say that you shouldn’t really travel at all when Mercury is in retrograde. I’m not sure if I buy that; if somebody handed me a ticket, I’d drop everything and leave today. At the very least, we can take a staycation and make a Greek-inspired meal. This Greek Salad Quinoa Bowl is Mediterranean goodness on a bed of grain-like seeds from the Andean region of South America. A bit of a cultural mish-mosh, sure, but the flavor here is all Greek. Lemon dill quinoa and chickpeas make a protein-filled base for fresh, flavorful toppings… crunchy cold lettuce and cucumbers, sweet ripe tomatoes, briny kalamata olives and creamy salty feta. A drizzle of olive oil and a splash of fresh lemon juice are the only dressing you’ll need.
So go on, take a break from reality and eat like a Greek. Download some bouzouki music on iTunes, pour a glass of ouzo, and forget about Mercury being in retrograde. Kalí óreksi!
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Greek Salad Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans) cooked or canned
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 large lemon, juiced or more to taste
- 2 cups shredded hearts of romaine or your favorite green
- 3 small Persian cucumbers sliced
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (omit for vegan - can replace with shelled sunflower pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds)
- 3 small ripe tomatoes, quartered
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a mesh strainer or sieve, drain.Pour quinoa into a saucepan along with 2 cups of water, oregano and 1/8 tsp salt (if salt sensitive, just use a pinch). Bring the quinoa to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover the pot. Let the quinoa simmer for about 15 minutes.
- While quinoa is steaming, prep your vegetables (chop, shred, etc.). Once they're prepped I like to put them in bowls for easy assembly.
- After the quinoa has cooked for 15 minutes, stir in the chickpeas. Recover the pot and steam for about 5 more minutes till water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Uncover the pot and stir in the fresh dill and lemon juice; add more salt and lemon juice to taste, if desired.
- Assemble your quinoa bowls. Divide the quinoa mixture evenly between each bowl (about 1 cup each). For each of the following ingredients, divide them evenly between the four bowls...
- Top each bowl with shredded romaine and sliced Persian cucumbers.
- Sprinkle on kalamata olives, tomato quarters and crumbled feta.
- Drizzle the bowl with extra virgin olive oil and squeeze on some fresh lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, if desired (the feta is salty so go easy on the salt till you taste it). Serve.
- You can also add some thinly sliced red onion to the bowls if you wish. I'm not a big fan of raw onion so I don't use it. As you can see these bowls are very customizable; feel free to change up the toppings as you like.
Nutrition
I amazingly had all the ingredients during this pandemic and threw this together for lunch. Used an already made lemon shallot vinaigrette, some leftover dried chickpeas cooked up for hummus, arugula, and one of my 1 minute instant quinoa cups, which come in very handy. My husband doesn’t love quinoa but I do. I know this recipe is old, but it’s still terrific! I couldn’t believe I had everything. That never happens, and my running to the store to fill in an ingredient days are over, for now. Thank you!
what mesh strainer/sieve did you use? i find that most let the quinoa pass by?
A fine mesh strainer will be your best bet.
Tried it, loved it! It’s a more gourmet version of the traditional greek salad but it’s a very interesting approach!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Looks Great! Sometimes cultural mish-mosh things are the best 🙂
I read the recipe ingredients again and noticed you use Persian cucumbers? Can you find them in a regular grocery? Are the much different than regular cucumbers?
Persian cucumbers are small, thin cucumbers. If you can’t find them at the grocery store, use peeled regular cucumber or use the cucumber that is wrapped in plastic (no need to peel if it has plastic on it, that means it doesn’t have wax on it like the other cucumbers do).
Hey Tori!
Another delicious recipe. I want to try it with quinoa. I have only had 2 experiences with quinoa. I tried making it once and I think I did it wrong or got some bad stuff. It smelled like dirty feet and stunk the whole house up. I tried it again at sweet tomato. It didn’t taste too bad, but it did kind of have a dirt flavor… What is a good brand to try for quinoa? Also, is that dirt taste normal? If it is I will give it another shot with a more open mind, I just never knew what to expect.
I can’t wait to try this one!
Hi Stephanie, I wouldn’t say quinoa tastes like dirt, but it does have a unique flavor. It’s possible you may not like the flavor itself and it won’t matter which brand you buy, however if you want to try again I recommend trying an organic brand and rinsing it really well in the mesh colander before cooking. Oftentimes people skip the rinsing step, which rids the quinoa of a semi-bitter film that makes it taste kind of bad. If you try this and still don’t like the flavor, I would suggest substituting cooked rice or couscous. Good luck!
Looks delicious.
I love Greek salad but very disappointed when I bought it from McDonald, they chopped up all veggie to tiny and with a salad dressing and not one piece of feta cheese in it. I said to the staff that that was not Greek Salad at all, did you give me the wrong salad? She said no that was Greek Salad. Thanks for sharing as I remember the taste was a bit salty from the Feta cheese and sour. Now I know how to make them. Yours have quinoa, chickpeas added, so it can be for lunch as a meal !! Thanks for sharing.
THE BEST !!!
Looks good
Mmm what does quinoa taste like?
Quinoa has a very unique flavor, it’s hard to describe. The texture is somewhat reminiscent of couscous. It’s somewhat neutral, like rice, and takes on the flavor of the ingredients it is cooked with. It has a lot more protein than rice and pasta, so it’s a nice nutritional boost. You can use cooked rice as a substitute if you prefer, or couscous (cooking instructions would vary based on the substitute you’re using).
Looks great!
Love quinoa. Nice take in it!
Looks yummy and healthy!
Yum