Arugula and Quinoa Salad

For a healthy and delicious summer dish, try this easy arugula and quinoa salad with Mediterranean flavors. Perfect as a side dish or to take to a summer picnic or party. Hearty and full of flavor from peppery arugula leaves, tangy feta cheese and crunchy veggies and dressed in a delicious vinaigrette.

You might also like the roasted vegetable couscous salad.

One of the things I love to eat in summer is salads. And while I love a big lettuce salad I also love all the various other salads that come out in summer time picnics and parties. So I created this Mediterranean arugula and quinoa salad for a family get together.

This summer salad is not only packed with flavor but it’s very hearty and could be eaten as a side dish or as main dish for lunch or a light supper. The combination of cool cucumbers, sweet tomatoes and briny olives go great with the peppery arugula and chewy quinoa. They it’s all dressed in an easy but flavor dressing and chunks of feta cheese. This salad is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

The recipe ingredients I used were quinoa, baby arugula leaves, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, red onion, cucumbers and radishes. The vinaigrette dressing was made with honey, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest, oregano, salt and black pepper.

• quinoa – I love this gluten free grain because it has protein and a great chew texture. However you could substitute with pearl couscous, barley, rice, or other starchy grain. You could even use pasta if you wanted.
• baby arugula – I love arugula for it’s peppery taste and I think it adds a great element to this salad so I would not change it but if you don’t have it you can substitute with spinach, watercress or just eliminate it if you have to. FYI in the UK it’s often referred to as rocket.
• feta cheese and Kalamata olives – I gave this salad a bit of Greek flavor with these two ingredients but you could substitute with parmesan cheese, blue cheese or goat cheese. And you can use green olives instead of kalamatas if you want.
• vegetables – I used grape tomatoes but you could dice a good fresh tomato or use cherry tomatoes. I also used cucumbers and radishes. You can use them or use other vegetables if you want like carrots, celery, green or red bell peppers, broccoli, asparagus etc. I used these veggies because I wanted it to have a Mediterranean flavor.

Other things you can add to this recipe is fresh herbs like parsley, thyme or mint. You can also use toasted slivered almonds or sliced almonds, pine nuts, etc for more crunch. If you like beans, try chickpeas or cannellini beans.

How to make arugula quinoa salad.

Step 1: First thing you want to do is make the quinoa. Follow the directions on the box and let cool when done. You want to have 1 cup of cooked quinoa. If you have leftover, scroll down to view all of my quinoa recipes.

Step 2: While that is cooking and cooling, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, honey and spices to make the vinaigrette. Set the salad dressing aside. You can also chop the veggies into bite sized pieces.

Step 3: Get out a large bowl and put the cooked quinoa in it and when it has cooled completely, add the cut veggies and arugula and toss with the salad dressing. Then fold in the feta cheese and serve.

And that is all there is to it. If you wanted to eat this for a meal you could add a protein. Some proteins that would work well are cooked shrimp, salmon, grilled chicken or chopped chicken. I usually have chopped rotisserie chicken in my freezer and add it to soups, salads or casseroles. You can also try prosciutto or pancetta.

You can also eat this as a side dish. It would go great with this slow cooker lemon chicken, these lamb burgers, this grilled flank steak or any meaty main dish. I like this recipe for meal prep purposes too. Unlike other salad greens the arugula doesn’t wilt and the salad can last a few days easily.

Store leftover quinoa arugula salad in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

More healthy and tasty quinoa recipes to try.

As I mentioned above if you extra quinoa you can use it in these recipes. I often make extra so I can use it in other recipes. It’s a very versatile grain.

• quinoa salad with roasted vegetables (see below)
• buffalo chicken quinoa casserole
• chocolate cherry baked quinoa or cranberry orange breakfast bowl
• pomegranate quinoa pilaf
• zucchini salad with mint or lemon marinated vegetables

Well I hope you enjoy this arugula and quinoa salad with all of its Mediterranean flavors. It’s easy to make and full of flavor. As I mentioned above it’s a good dish to take a picnic or summer party. Enjoy!