Pesto Quinoa Salad

Are there any foods you could eat again and again? I think I could eat feta, tomatoes and olives for every meal, every day…well, at least for a while Ironically, I didn’t even used to eat olives when I was little. One of my uncles kept trying to get me to eat them (and swallow the pit!!!), but he wasn’t very successful. I don’t remember exactly when, but I eventually gave olives a second chance and ended up loving them. Now, I couldn’t live without olives The key to liking olives, I think, is to start with good olives! Some people prefer the big fat green ones, some prefer the black oil cured ones, some just like kalamata, etc. I believe that there is an olive type for everyone and that anyone could learn to love olives, just like I did

I still had some pesto and olives left from the pizza I made last week and I decided to use them in a quinoa salad. For those of you new to quinoa, it is a seed high in protein and can be used as a grain in most recipes. It’s similar to bulgur and rice, but with a more toasty, nutty flavor. Also, it is gluten free! I was skeptical about it, but the first time I tried it I fell in love with it! So if you haven’t tried it yet, give it a chance and you won’t regret it

Ingredients (serves ~2):

• 1/2 cup quinoa (makes 2 cups)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 10 olives, pitted, sliced
• 3-4 cauliflower florets
• 2 Tbsps pesto
• 1/2 small cucumber

Start by cooking the quinoa. Mix 1/2 cup quinoa with 1 cup of water. Heat up until it starts to boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 min longer. Look how cute it looks

While the quinoa is cooking, chop the veggies.

 

Add the cauliflower and feta cheese. 

Mix the quinoa with the pesto, then mix it in with the veggies and cheese. 

I love quinoa and this was a very tasty easy to make salad. Also, very healthy  Great to pack for lunch!

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