I went to a relief society activity this past Thursday and had to bring a salad. The last time Kellie was in town, she talked about an orzo salad she loved! So I got the recipe from her. I didn't have any orzo and its about double the amount of calories that is in quinoa, so I decided to substitute it. The original recipe also had pine nuts, But who wants to buy those? They are SOO expensive! And I already had pumpkin seeds, so I used those instead. I made a couple of other changes too. I got a picture of the last little bowlful left over on Friday afternoon. To give credit, I think the original recipe came from Mel's Kitchen.
Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together and set aside.
2 cups quinoa (or less)
2 cans (4 cups) chicken broth (or less)
3 cups grape tomatoes, halved
4 tablespoons chopped chives
3 tablespoons (or more) chopped fresh basil
1+ cups baby spinach, chopped ( I didn't measure - it could have been nearly 2 cups)
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled ( I used 6 oz of a block and crumbled it)
½ cup pumpkin seeds ( you could toast them, I didn't)
Cook the quinoa in the chicken broth until tender. I have discovered quinoa REALLY increases in volume. After it was cooked and cooled I used about 5 cups to make the salad, But the cooked amount was closer to 7 cups! Leftovers!
Cool the quinoa to room temperature. Mix with tomatoes, chives, basil and Spinach - I didn't measure any of these, but eyeballed it! Add dressing and toss to coat, Top with Feta cheese and pumpkin seeds- toss lightly to mix. The salad looks better with more cheese, seeds and basil on top, but it tastes great either way. Ryan's mom came over Friday evening to go the the King's Singers concert with us and she had some of the leftover salad and said it was GREAT!
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