Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers, and Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Today I decided to make some kind of Greek inspired salad using the red quinoa I recently bought from Trader Joe's and so I came up with this: quinoa salad with spinach, cucumbers, roasted grape tomatoes, and feta.  Regular quinoa or even couscous could easily be put in place of the red quinoa (this particular kind was just what I had on hand).  Also, the water can be replaced with vegetable or chicken broth for added flavor.  This simple salad can stand alone as a light meal, or serve it as a side with some grilled chicken marinated in Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and olive oil.  The Wuz and I made some of that chicken to go with the quinoa salad but sadly wasn’t photograph material, although it tasted pretty good.  I’m trying my best to practice taking photographs of food that look appetizing so we’ll see how it goes, but I can’t promise anything extraordinary will come of this!

Just as a side note, prepare the grape tomatoes first and pop them in the oven since it takes about 30 minutes to roast. 

Roasted grape tomatoes

About 1 pint of grape tomatoes

Olive oil

Natural cane sugar (to bring out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes)

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half (the long way) and lay them facing up on a baking sheet.

3. Drizzle some olive oil over the tomatoes, then sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper.

4. Roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until shrunken and shriveled.

Quinoa salad with spinach, cucumbers, and roasted grape tomatoes

1 cup of uncooked red quinoa

½ an onion, diced

2 cups of water

A handful of fresh spinach, chopped

1 small cucumber, diced

Feta cheese

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1. Turn on the stove to medium and using a medium sized pot, pour a tablespoon or two of olive oil when pot is heated.

2. Cook the onions until translucent and tender.  Season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour in the uncooked quinoa along with the water.  Stir, and cover.

4. The quinoa should be done after about 15 minutes, or until you can see the little white curlicues in the middle.  Remove from heat.

5. Mix in the chopped spinach and it should wilt from the heat.  Add the tomatoes.

6. Wait for the quinoa mixture to cool before adding in the cucumbers (unless you don’t mind eating warm cucumbers).

7. Mix in some feta, or sprinkle it on top before serving.