Recipe: Herby Quinoa Salad with Nuts, Feta & Pomegranate

This is one of my favorite salads at the moment. Quick and fuss-free to make, goes with most things, travels well in a lunchbox. It’s also full of fresh ingredients and pretty damn good for you. No oily dressing, just a spot of feta cheese (which could be removed if you wanted the veganise the recipe – though as a cheese fan I think I’d miss it too much!). Plus it looks super pretty and is really rather Instagrammable – what more could you want in a recipe?!

We quite often serve this with grilled meat (turkey and lamb work particularly well, especially in a harissa-style marinade) or some homemade falafel, but I also love it on it’s own, perhaps with some carrot sticks and hoummous to snack on later in the afternoon. The only thing I will say is it’s best to serve it at room temperature – when fridge cold I find the quinoa can be a little stodgy in texture.

Recipe

• 250g quinoa (I prefer to use a mix of white, black and red quinoa – it seems to have a better flavor and texture)
• 1 small red onion
• 50g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 small pack of pomegranate seeds (I find them cheaper than prepping your own)
• 50g toasted flaked almonds
• 50g pistachios (unsalted)
• 1 pack each of coriander and mint
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 pinch each of sugar and salt

Cook the quinoa, following the instructions on the packet. I tend to pop it into a pan with twice the amount of cold water, bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes until the water is all absorbed. Let it cool completely.

Finely chop the onion and the herbs. Mix the citrus juice with sugar and salt. Mix everything together with the quinoa, adding more feta if you’re greedy like me. This keeps for a good 3-4 days in the fridge, in fact I find it tastes better the day after being made.

PS – in the photos on this post I’ve drizzled it in a simple yoghurt dressing (1tbsp yoghurt, black pepper, pinch of salt, pinch of cumin) as we’d miscalculated the amount of lemons we needed to buy and it was a little dry. It’s not entirely necessary so no worries about adding a dressing.

I’ve already earmarked this as my go-to recipe for picnics and barbecues this summer – I can imagine I’ll be making it lots!

What’s your favorite summer salad recipe?