Grilled Vegetable Salad with Quinoa – Among the Best Quinoa Salad Recipes

By Wendy Polisi on August 2010

If you have been following Cooking Quinoa over the summer, you know that I am really digging quinoa salad recipes right now.  In fact, I think I have found some of the best quinoa salad recipes that there are!  Of course, I am always on the lookout for more.

The inspiration for this dish came from a grilled salad recipe in Fine Cooking, which is one of my all time favorite food magazines.  (No, it is not always healthy but the recipes are so worth the splurge!)  I liked the recipe, but wanted to make it a bit more of a meal, and protein-rich quinoa really did the trick. I also changed the dressing a bit because the original was a little bland for my tastes.   Even my husband will eat this without demanding to be served a steak along side.  (Now if I could just get my pre-school boys eating grilled vegetables …. hmmm… maybe in a few years.)  It is nice to feel like my grill is getting used for something healthy!

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Quinoa

Ingredients

½ medium fennel bulb

1 red pepper, cut into 4 pieces

1 red onion, cut into ¼ inch slices

1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices

1/3 cup olive oil, best quality

Kosher salt

2 T red wine vinegar

3 T balsamic vinegar

4 cloves garlic, minced (More if desired – I used 7!)

Fresh ground black pepper

1 ½ cups grape tomatoes, halfed

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

3 T basil, sliced thin

1 ½ cups cooked quinoa

Directions

1. Remove the stalks from the fennel bulb.  Take ¼ cup of the fronds from the stalks.  Chop and reserve.  Cut the fennel into quarters lengthwise and trim away core, leaving just enough intact to keep the layers together.  Slice the quarters lengthwise to ¼ inch thick.
2. Heat a clean grill to medium high heat.  Brush both sides of the vegetables with 2 T of the olive oil and season with ¼ tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Grill the vegetables, flipping once, until the vegetables are tender and charred, about 12 minutes for the fennel, 10 minutes for the pepper, 6 minutes for the onion and squash.  Allow the vegetables to cool a bit and cut into ½ inch dice.
4. Whisk together garlic, vinegars, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss cooked quinoa with vegetables and cover with dressing.  Toss and gently stir in tomatoes, fennel fronds.  Top with feta and basil.

More of the Best Quinoa Salad Recipes

Summer Quinoa Salad – Roasted Garlic Quinoa Salad

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Greek Quinoa Salad

Cold Quinoa Salad – Simple Curried Quinoa Salad

Other Great Recipes

My Hummus Recipe

Stir Fry Recipes

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