JoyFoodly’s Chef Hollie Greene

My inspiration for this beautiful quinoa dish was putting a smile on the high school students’ faces at Novato High School in California, for whom it was created. Then I made a version of it again with the younger kids at Up On Top and they loved it!

Why Greek Quinoa? You can use any of summer’s best – juicy cherry tomatoes, crunchy yellow bell peppers, raw sweet corn, crisp cucumbers and even sweet carrots and purple onions to make this dish, so it can be whatever you have or can easily grab. Plus, quinoa is healthy and quick to prepare.

Make your own “Quin-what?!” challenge! Come up with recipes that include the powerful seed that cooks like a grain.

Greek Rainbow Quinoa
Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
2 teaspoons/pinches of salt
Any combination of the following:
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ears of corn, kernels removed from the cob
1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, chopped
1 small container of cherry tomatoes, whole
1 red onion, diced and macerated with salt (after dice, crush with hands and pinch of salt)
½ bunch of parsley, basil or mint, stems and leaves chopped
½ cup feta cheese to top the salad (optional)

Vinaigrette Ingredients (all mixed in a mason jar):
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¾ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

Cook quinoa: measure and put quinoa, water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pot, bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer, cover and set your timer for 15 minutes. When ready (place spoon in to see if bottom of pot is dry); spread on a cookie sheet (keeps from continuing to steam and get mushy).

Cut the red onion in a dice. Put a pinch of salt on top and crush the diced onion in your hand. This macerates the onion, releasing its beautiful flavors and taking some of the raw onion bite out of the taste!

Cut all the remaining veggies in a medium sized dice or rough chop and put them in a big bowl.

Make your vinaigrette by placing all the ingredients into the Mason jar and shaking. If you don’t have a mason jar, you can mix all ingredients in a bowl and whisk briskly to combine.

Combine your cooked quinoa, the vinaigrette and chopped veggies in a big bowl.

If you love feta cheese like Hollie does, top your salad with a beautiful sprinkling of feta to finish. Enjoy!