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Quinoa Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

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Once again, we found ourselves experimenting with quinoa because we are literally obsessed with it’s versatility.  You can pretty much turn any of your favorite salad combinations into a quinoa salad by simply swapping out the lettuce for well, you guessed it, quinoa.  It pairs beautifully with both savory and sweet ingredients which is why we decided to go down the poppy seed dressing path this time.  This recipe is very simple and made up of some of our favorite classic ingredients.

Before you begin, just whip up a batch of quinoa.  If you are anything like us, we pretty much always have a batch of this in our fridge.  It’s a staple on weekly prep day because of the versatility.  So, prepare the quinoa according to package directions then allow it to cool.

Cut up the red grapes, cucumber and parsley.  Then crumble the feta cheese.   Toss all of the ingredients into a bowl with the quinoa.

To prepare the dressing, just combine all of the ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender to mix them up.

Drizzle the poppyseed dressing over the ingredients and toss until it’s all nicely combined.  Season with salt and pepper and either serve and eat immediately or cover in the fridge for up to 5 days.  This salad makes great leftovers!


Quinoa Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 C quinoa cooked according to package instructions
  • ¾ C red grapes, halved
  • ¼ C pistachio nuts, shelled
  • ⅓ C feta cheese, cubed
  • ½ english cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • ½ C italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • S&P to taste
For the Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing:
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • ¼ C apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp 0% plain greek yogurt
  • 2 tsp poppy seeds
  • ¼ C good quality olive oil
Instructions
  1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside to cool.
  2. While quinoa is cooking prep salad ingredients and poppy seed dressing. Add all poppy seed dressing ingredients to a blender, or use an immersion blender. Blend all ingredients together until completely incorporated..
  3. Add quinoa to a low bowl. Add grapes, pistachios, feta, cucumber and parsley. Mix with poppy seed dressing, gently gold ingredients with a spatula. Season with S&P to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Chopped Kale & Golden Beet Salad

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Who said salads are boring? Well this salad is here to prove the haters wrong! I have been obsessing over this salad for the last month or so…it’s been my go-to salad for the summer.  It’s easy to start adding too many ingredients to a salad, but sometimes less is more.  You want the individual flavors to stand out on their own but also blend well together when you are lucky enough to get everything all in one bite.  So the stars of the show are roasted yellow beets – which scream summer, sweet red grapes, roasted and salted pistachios and feta cheese. All of this deliciousness is tossed with thin strips of lacinato kale and a light red wine vinaigrette made with whole grain mustard. Holla! Yep, it’s a party in your mouth and you definitely don’t want to miss the party!  Oh, and try topping it with grilled chicken breast to turn the party up a notch!

 

 

Chopped Kale & Golden Beet Salad
 
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Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • 4 C lacinato kale - chopped into thin ribbon size pieces
  • 2 cooked golden beets - chopped into small squares
  • ½ C red grapes, halved
  • ¼ C roasted pistachios
  • ¼ C feta cheese - cut into small cubes
For the Red Wine Vinaigrette:
  • ¼ C red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp whole grain dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ¼ C good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Red Wine Vinaigrette:
  1. Whisk all ingredients together, set aside
For the Salad:
  1. Add all ingredients to a large salad bowl. Pour desired amount of dressing over the top and toss to coat. Serve immediately.