Quinoa Beet Chicken and Feta Salad Recipe
I’m a fan of quinoa as a handy staple to have in the pantry, and I often cook up a pot on Sunday night so I’ll have leftovers in the fridge for making quick and easy meals throughout the week. It works well with pretty much any flavour combination, is quick and easy to cook, and keeps you feeling full when you add it to a salad or soup.
We had a random assortment of leftovers in the fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste after hosting a couple of dinners (which translates to cooking too much food because you never know who will unexpectedly bring a friend). These proportions are not at all set in stone. This recipe is going to work with just about anything you have in the fridge — so don’t be afraid to mix and match ingredients depending on what you have on hand.
In the proportions below, you’ll end up with about 4–5 cups of salad. I usually package these into 1 cup serving sizes for my work lunches, or if I’m planning for guests I make enough for about 1 cup of salad per person.
Prep time takes about 20 minutes if you’re starting from scratch. If you’re working from a fridge full of leftovers and your chicken and quinoa are already cooked then prep time is less than 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup cooked or pickled beets, cut up fairly small
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 red, yellow or orange pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup corn (canned, frozen/thawed, or if you have a cooked cob in the fridge you can cut the kernals off)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- OPTIONAL — 1 diced, cooked chicken breast. Just leave this out if you want a vegetarian version.
- fresh garlic or garlic powder
- dash of salt and pepper
- small handful of chopped fresh basil leaves (alternative — use 2 tbsp pesto mixed into the salad if you don’t have fresh basil)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (if you used pesto instead of fresh basil, you might want to skip the oil altogether)
Equipment
- Bowl to mix in
- Frying pan to cook chicken
- Pot with lid to cook quinoa
- Stirring spoon
- Knife
- Cutting board
The Process
STEP 1: If your quinoa isn’t cooked already, put 1/2 cup quinoa and 1 cup water in a pot with a lid, bring it to a boil and then turn it on minimum for 15–20 minutes. Check it at 15 minutes, and give it a stir. If there is no more liquid and the quinoa is light and fluffy then it’s ready. If there’s still liquid in the pot, give it another few minutes and check again. As soon as the liquid is all cooked into the quinoa, it’s ready. Take it off the element and set it somewhere to cool (without the lid it’ll cool faster!)
STEP 2: If your chicken isn’t cooked already, you’ll want to dice and pan fry your chicken breast while the quinoa is cooking. I usually use non-stick cookware, but if you’re using oil, coconut oil works well for chicken. Add a bit of salt and pepper, some fresh garlic/garlic powder if you want, and then while your chicken and quinoa are cooking turn your attention to your vegetables.
STEP 3: Chop up and mix in all the other vegetable ingredients in a bowl big enough to hold all your ingredients.
STEP 4: Mix in your cooked quinoa and your chicken.
STEP 5: Add the fresh basil and oil or the pesto. And sprinke in the feta cheese (the smaller the chunks the better the flavours will blend), and salt and pepper to taste.
STEP 6: This dish is nice served hot or cold, and leftovers should be stored in the fridge. If you find the salad getting a bit dry after you’ve had it in the fridge for a day or two you can add a dash of olive oil and stir that in. That will moisten the quinoa again.
xo Crystal
Originally published at wellthyliving.ca on September 12, 2015.
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