Enjoy a delicious quinoa summer salad topped with fresh, flavourful ingredients.

Image: Joe Kim | Recipes & Food Styling: Tara Ballantyne | Prop Styling: Ann Marie Favot

Ingredients
 

For the salad

• 1-1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 large bunch baby asparagus, stalks cut off and cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes packed in oil (about 8 sundried tomatoes), plus 2 tbsp oil (reserved to use in dressing)
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese + more for garnish
• 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts for garnish

For the dressing

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp reserved oil from sundried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1 Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cool water for at least 2 minutes; drain.

2 Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the drained quinoa and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to toast the grains and evaporate any remaining water.

3 Stir in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

4 Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside.

5 Steam the asparagus for 2 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Transfer the asparagus to a colander and rinse under ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain thoroughly and set aside.

6 When cool, combine the quinoa, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, olives, onion and feta cheese in a large bowl.

7 Whisk together the garlic, oil from the sundried tomatoes, lemon juice, oregano and basil in a small bowl. Add sea salt and pepper.

8 Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. Top with the additional crumbled feta cheese and toasted pine nuts and serve immediately.

Prep and cook time: 45 minutes.
Serves 8.