Greek Quinoa & Feta Salad

📝 Ingredients

• 120 g quinoa (uncooked weight)
• 200 g cooked chickpeas, drained
• 1 cucumber
• 250 g cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 green pepper
• 40 g pitted black olives (such as Kalamata)
• 150 g feta
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt, pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Fine sieve
• Mixing bowl
• Knife and cutting board
• Small bowl

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the quinoa in the fine sieve under cold water, rubbing it between your fingers: this removes the saponin that causes a bitter taste. Then cook it in a pan of boiling salted water for 12 to 14 minutes.
2. The quinoa is cooked when the grains are tender and a little white thread comes away from each one. Drain it, rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking and leave to drain well.
3. While it cooks, halve the cucumber lengthways, scoop out the seeds with a spoon if it's very watery, then dice it. Halve the cherry tomatoes and cut the pepper into small dice.
4. Thinly slice the red onion. To mellow its flavour, soak it in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, then drain. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then halve the olives.
5. In the small bowl, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, a pinch of salt and some pepper until the dressing is lightly emulsified. Go easy on the salt: the feta and olives are already salty.
6. In the salad bowl, combine the cooled quinoa, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, onion and olives. Pour over the dressing and toss gently to coat everything well.
7. Cube the feta or crumble it roughly and scatter it over the top at the last minute so it stays in pieces. Serve straight away or leave to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes so the flavours can mingle.