Thread: Quinoa, lentil and feta salad

I got myself some Quinoa (Keen-Wah) the other day as i was informed it is full of good stuff. For those that dont know it is likened to Cuscous.

I searched the net for a good recipe and came across this quinoa, lentil and feta cheese dish.

It is very easy to make, takes 30 mins all in and is refreshingly good.

Serves 4, 15 min cook, 15 min prep

200g quinoa
1 tsp olive oil
1 shallot or half an onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of tarragon (fresh) roughly chopped
400g of green lentils, rinsed and drained
quarter of a cucumber, lightly peeled and diced
100g of feta
6 spring onions
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar

1. Cook the quinoa in a pan of boiling water for 15 min until tender, drain well and leave to cool.

2. At the same time heat the oil in a non stick pan, then add the onion (shallot) for a few mins until softened. Add the tarragon, stir well then remove from the heat and leave to cool.

3. Stir the onion mix into the quinoa, add the lentils, cucumber, feta, spring onions, orange zest and juice and the red wine vinegar. Mix it together well and chill until served.

PER SERVING: 286 cals, protein 16 g, carbs 39 g, fat 9 g, sat fat 3 g, fibre 2 g, sugar 6 g, salt 1.4 g

I had this salad on its own but would accompany any meat dish or as a side to another meal. There is tons of the stuff from the measurements above and i have had 4 meals out of it. Next time i think i will add diced chicken/steak to it and see how that works.

Enjoy

sounds good mate. i might have to sample.

That does look good. I love Feta Cheese!
Will have to show the missus, she likes cooking.

This answers my question on another post! Ive been pronouncing it as it looks aswel thats probly why my dad didnt know what i was on about! I was thinking about cooking it and mixing it with some kind of meat and some kind of spicey sauce, would that work?

I pronounce it as quin-o-a thats how they seem to say it on the other side of the pond! Say what you see

I went into the supermarket and pronounced it as Quin-o-a. The attendant at Booths just looked at me as though i was stupid He then procceeded to educate me on my english skills.

Pot-A-to pot-AR-to! So you can get it from sainsburys etc not just holland and barrett? Do you reckon it would be alright used as rice like in a sauce or is that a good combination?

I would replace it with rice yeah, although i have not tried it to confirm. Like i posted above, think of it as a cuscous replacement and you cant go wrong. As for putting it in a sauce, im not too sure about that. Give it a go and see how it turns out. Its all about experiment.

As for where to get it, any decent supermarket will do it. It will be with the seeds and grains, not with the rice. I spent forever looking around the rice section at Booths only to find it in the grain section.

Ive never tried couscous either though! Im sure ive seen some pictures in flex with them eating it in like a stir fry style. Im not a big fan of rice but i think im going to give this quinoa a try, i like the fact nobody eats it aswel! Something different to pasta anyway, and it looks alot better nutritionally.