An easy to make light salad that can be served with or without chicken for vegetarians.
Also made a couple of changes, but nothing major. Made it vegetarian, and added some chickpeas to make it more hearty. Also was out of red onion, so used regular onion instead. Excellent flavor, enjoyed this recipe a lot.
Read MoreThis was good but I thought the lemon flavor overpowered the other flavors in the salad. That being said, I will make this again because it's a good and healthy option for lunch.
Read MoreAlso made a couple of changes, but nothing major. Made it vegetarian, and added some chickpeas to make it more hearty. Also was out of red onion, so used regular onion instead. Excellent flavor, enjoyed this recipe a lot.
If you are reading this review, then do yourself a favor: enjoy this recipe ASAP.
You know, I always dislike those reviews that say: I changed this, I changed that, etc. HOWEVER, I am going to post one like that because I didn't have all of the ingredients necessary for the dish. Very, very good, even with my changes and omissions. I'm sure it'd be even better. We don't like peppers and onions so I skipped those. I sprinkled a little onion powder in the mix. I was all out of Balsamic Vinegar so I used Red Wine Vinegar instead. I had no fresh herbs so I skipped those too. I'm sure if I had all the ingredients it would have been even better. It was excellent.
I thought this was a great salad! I used a red pepper instead of a green, I added diced cucumber, and I only used half of the lemon juice. I also cooked the quinoa in chicken broth like other reviewers suggested. Excellent! Will make again!
I hardly ever leave reviews , but this was sooo good I had to rate it! I omitted the chicken since quinoa has a good amount of protein, as well as the salt- the feta and olives provide enough salt for my taste.
I really like this recipe, i'm a vegetarian, so I did a few substitutes (I use vegetable broth, and no chicken. I also don't like olives, so I didn't use any..) The recipe was still great, and it's an awesome protein dish that I can throw together really quickly, using whatever vegetables I have on hand. I have made a habit of making this dish in large quantities, then refrigerating it so I can take it to work later in the week. It's the kinda dish that tastes as good or better on the second day. Enjoooyyyy
Excellent! I adjusted the recipe: cooked quinoa in chicken broth rather than water and bouillon; eliminated the garlic and parsley; used a yellow onion rather than red and yellow bell pepper rather than green; added green onions, sun-dried tomatoes, grated carrot, a couple handfuls of chiffonade spinach leaves, and sliced celery. I like to add more veggies...Yum!
O....M....G!!!!! DINNER LAST NIGHT WAS AMAZING! My husband and I LOVED this. He's not big on trying new things, but when I told him about how healthy quinoa is and had a way to make it that he'd like, he went for it. I read over the reviews to see what adjustments we could make and with them it was delicious! We omitted the salt, used half the lemon juice and added chickpeas. I cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth, and used red instead of green pepper (that's all I had). I also am weird about raw onions, so when the chicken was almost done I threw in the onions so they could cook a little. We will definitely make this over and over again! Thanks a ton!!! (:
This salad was a big hit with my family. My 13 year old's exact words were "flippin awesome". The only change I made is that I decreased the lemon juice to 1/2 cup because that's all I had, but it was perfect and I will stick to that amount. This will be my new go to recipe for potlucks.
Excellent Quinoa recipe! Here's what I did: cooked quinoa in chicken broth vs. bouillon cubes. Omitted Chicken (wanted it as a side for fish). While quinoa was cooking, I chopped all the veggies and herbs called for and added 4 seeded/diced roma tomatoes. Mixed veggies and herbs with lemon juice, balsamic, and olive oil. Let it all sit together while waiting on quinoa. Added olives to the mixture (it is very important to use Kalamata olives specifically). When quinoa was done, added it to the mixture. Stirred gently until mixed, then added feta and stirred again. Delicious!
This was outstanding! Have made this several times since my original review and love it. I always use chickpeas instead of chicken. I sometimes add artichoke hearts. Be sure to use fresh lemon juice, it makes it. I didn't use all the oil & balsamic so mix and add to your liking. Thanks, Colter! This is a keeper and will be highly recommended!
Delicious - There are so many different complimentary flavors in this dish - I left out the chicken - the quinoa is very filling on its own - may use less lemon juice next time - this was great!
I dont usually review things but i HAD to review this. SO DELICIOUS!!! I changed only a couple things. 1. I used chick peas cause I hate chicken. 2. I used sundried tomatoes cause I hate kalamata olives. 3. I added some cucumber cause it was in my fridge. And it was FANTASTIC! Made a huge batch and have been eating it for lunch and as a side for dinners!
This was good but I thought the lemon flavor overpowered the other flavors in the salad. That being said, I will make this again because it's a good and healthy option for lunch.
Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except for omitting the parsley and salt. The only tedious part was all the chopping, but it only took one cutting board, a knife, and a little bit of time. My boyfriend also thought it was delicious and appreciated how healthy it was.
Delicious!! Didnt have fresh, so I substituted for dried, and didn't use the chicken. It was excellent! Well done!
This is very good as is. However, if I may make a few additions for a more "authentic" Mediterranean style salad: tomatoes and Persian cucumbers. Also, 2/3 cup of lemon juice is too much. The juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 of a cup) is sufficient. Instead of the chicken, I used garbanzo beans. Thank you for the recipe!
I had never heard of quinoa before this recipe. Cooking the quinoa with the boillon/garlic is a MUST - it tastes terrible/bland without it. Any mediterranean ingredients just make the dish more awesome. I like to add diced tomatoes and pepperoncinis.
I loved it. I made it as is, but used yellow peppers as that is what I had on hand and took the advice of another and used chick peas instead of chicken. Delicious. The flavors seems strong at first but by the evening and the next day the flavors blended and it was even better. I will definitely be making it again.
delicious. changed it up some, i cooked the chicken in 1/3 cup of balsmaic vinegar and it was awesome!
Excellent flavor! Used chicken broth and half of the quinoa, added chick peas, roasted red peppers (not fresh green), fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, fresh cucumbers and artichokes. It's a keeper!
Excellent! Don't skip making this just because you don't have fresh herbs on hand. I didn't have any fresh so I used dried. Didn't hav chives at all and added dried basil. I was making this for a vegetarian group so the quinoa was cooked in salted water only. I made it for a group of 80 people for their buffet and this was the first to run out. They LOVED it! So did I, YUM! Very flavorful.
This is a great salad. Quinoa is so good for you and this is a wonderful way to eat it. I went the vegetarian route, using a can of rinsed garbanzo beans instead of chicken. I also poured the lemon juice on to taste, and ended up using much less - maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a cup. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
This is fabulous!!! I normally dont stick exactly to a recipe but for this one i did and I wouldnt change a thing. Cant wait to make it again!!
This was a party in your mouth! We used it as a side dish alongside chicken. We didn't have fresh lemon juice, so we used it from a bottle, but boy was it fantastic. We wouldn't change a thing.
Love this. Took it for lunch on the combine today. What a treat. Being 40 miles from town I made due with the veggies I had on hand. Had all the other ingredients.
WOW! excellent & easy. I've never had my husband as impressed with a dish as this! Left out olives & chicken....feta was a beautiful flavor
This is very tasty. I made it with regular black olives instead of kalamata and threw in some steamed zucchini I had leftover. It was eaten at room temperature but I think it would be great cold or reheated in the microwave.
This is a delicious salad. I have made it twice now, once with chicken and once without. Like other reviewers, I half the lemon to 1/3 c, use yellow onion instead of red since I never have it on hand. I don't like peppers, so I add sundried tomatoes & chopped spinach. For ease, I make the quinoa in my rice cooker with chicken broth. It has wonderful flavor that my whole family likes, even the picky eaters. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great idea and you can adapt it. For ex., I found that lime juice works great. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, and cumin if you like, and try making lettuce wraps using this salad. Delicious!
Yep, this is pretty fabulous. I had something similar at a baby shower recently and craved it so much that I was super delighted to find the recipe here! I used chicken stock instead of water, used pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, and added a red pepper. This is so delicious that my non-olive eating significant other said I was allowed to make this again and again. Thumbs and big toes up. Will be adding this to my go-to potluck recipe book (although, it's so good, I kind of don't want to share). Thanks!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I did make some changes: 1. boil chicken for 30min, add salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to the water and use the left over water/broth instead of the bouillon 2. use 1/3 red onion 3. omit bell pepper 4. add marinated artichoke hearts 5. 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar voila! Enjoy RC
This recipe is delicious. We substituted roasted red peppers and added chopped walnuts.
I LOVED this!! The flavors were marvelous. I sauteed the onions with some mushrooms before adding them, just to cut down on that harshness of raw red onion. I left the pepper raw to give it a nice crunch. I'm not a fan of kalamata olives, so I substituted sun-dried tomatoes. I cut down the lemon juice and oil as well. This was melt in your mouth good! I had it warm for dinner and later on in the night I had to go back to the fridge and sneak a few bites of the cold leftovers..It was just as scrumptious!
Perfect! I subbed garbanzo beans for the chicken and left out the chives (because I had none). I also added some halved grape tomatoes to stretch the salad to feed more people and my tennis team loved it! The dressing tasted way too lemony by itself, but when it was mixed together with everything it was really delicious. Made it the evening before and it was still very fresh tasting when I finished up the leftovers at the end of the day. I would suggest mixing everything together and then adding dressing to taste: mine didn't need all of the dressing. Delicious! Try it as is, or add a couple of your favorite ingredients (may try sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts next time). Thanks for sharing!
Super versatile and tasty recipe. Here is what I did: Used chicken broth. Instead of discarding garlic, I chopped and added back into salad. Used 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice/ 1/8 C. olive oil and 1 Tbls of Balsamic. Added: Cuke, shredded carrot, baby tomatoes, & chopped fresh spinach. NO salt or olives. Used more feta. Will serve cold, but tastes great either way! Will make again!
This was good but had WAY too much lemon juice for us. I didn't add the chicken because I didn't have any but followed the other ingredients exactly. After tasting it, I made more quinoa, doubling it to make up for the missing chicken (too much sauce) and it was better but WAY too lemony so I added some sugar and a little more oil to counteract it. It was much better. My husband likes it a lot but I think it is just O.K. Next time I will definitely cut the lemon juice in half!
This was a great light summer salad. I had to make a few substitutions due to my ingredients on hand. I did substitute the red bell pepper for green added a tbs of fresh basil and one large cucumber. Amazing. I placed this on a bed of baby spinach and it completed it perfectly. Already looking forward to leftovers.
You have to make this! I made it for four but I am just going to eat it all to myself.
My first time cooking quinoa and it was delicious! Used red bell pepper but used all the other ingredients but to my taste. Ate some warm at lunch then cold tonight with warm naan bread. Fabulous and filling. Will make often and add other veggies as well.
This is just an awesome easy recipe and great for entertaining as it is a beautiful dish! I added more olives and almost doubled the feta b/c I love feta!
When I made up the dressing and tasted it, I seemed way too lemony. But it turned out fine. I made this a day ahead of time. I was using as a side salad so I swapped chick peas for chicken. I added some basil.
One of my husband's favourite recipes, although I like it less mostly because it takes SO long to prepare. 15 minutes??? I'm not exactly slow but it takes me well over a half an hour just to do the prep work. Overall prep and cooking time is more like an hour and a half. The lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil combo needs tweeking as it is too much for this recipe. Add a little at first, you can always add more later.
DELICOUS! I was making this as a side dish so I didnt add chicken pieces. I also didnt have bouillon cubes so I cut the water in half and used 1c of chicken stock from the can. Turned out wonderful, the next day I had a bit of left overs and sauted some sausage threw it together and was a great 2nd time around meal! Ive already recommended it several times!
My husband and I LOVED this recipe and ate it all up in two days. From reviewers suggestions, I left out the chicken this time, used just 1/2 red onion, cherry tomatoes instead of bell pepper, added cilantro, cucumber, garbanzo beans. Left out the salt. Used juice from 1/2 lemon, 1T balsamic, and 1T olive oil. And a box of Quinoa with roasted garlic and olive oil. I plan to make this for a dinner party in a few weeks.
Delicious!!! I highly recommend this dish! I omitted things I don't like (green or red peppers) and added fresh tomatoes! Yum! So anything you like with these flavors....go for it! You will love!
delicious! this was the first quinoa recipe i'd ever made, and it did not disappoint! i only used 1 bouillon cube, and it was plenty enough.
Packed with protein and full of bold flavors - the whole family agreed this was phenomenal! I left the garlic in (there wasn't anything left to remove after simmering/resting) and eyeballed the dressing ingredients. Just a tip: after simmering the quinoa for ~15 minutes, remove from heat and then cover until all the remaining water has been absorbed. Then remove the lid and fluff for perfect quinoa every time.
Excellent flavor. This dish adapts beautifully for holiday buffet luncheons. I used half green and half red bell pepper for extra color. Very good dish.
This recipe is really good - I add shrimp instead of chicken and has been a great success!!!
Very good dressing to finish the quinoa. I used the veggies I had on hand; red onions, mushrooms, shredded broccoli and carrots, and sundried tomatoes. I didn't have any of the fresh herbs so I used dried and it still came out great! I think the balsamic/lemon/olive oil really make it special! Don't forget to soak your quinoa before you cook it!
Yum! I left out the lemon juice because the tartness of the olives, feta, and balsamic were enough to wake up the taste buds. I tasted after mixing everything but the lemon, and it would've definitely overwhelmed it and ruined it. I didn't have green pepper, so I used red bell pepper and a half a jalapeno, seeded. I didn't have kalamata olives, so I used green. I added some chopped spinach, mushroom, left out the oil, and used chickpeas instead of chicken. This recipe is great that you can make ingredient tweaks and it's still a yummy quinoa and veggie dish, that's nicely seasoned. I'll try it with chicken sometime for sure. **Just an update: I made this for the full 8 servings, and have been eating it all week. You probably shoudln't do that. :P Unless it's lasagna.
This was delicious. I replaced the chicken with a can of garbanzo beans to make it vegetarian. But 2/3 cup lemon juice??!! That's insane. I barely used 1/4 cup.
This was REALLY good and super easy. I didn't have all the ingredients but it still worked out well. Thanks for the recipe.
Love it! I made it vegetarian by using faux chicken and veggie boullion. I also used a little less lemon juice. Really delicious :)
This is sooo good! I hate when people leave a review that says all the ways they changed the recipe, but I'm going to do it anyway because I think this is a very flexible recipe and can be good as made or with modifications. I left out the chicken because I wanted it for a side salad but I can't wait to make it with chicken. I also didn't put in as much onion because I felt it would overwhelm (for my tastes). I'm eating the leftovers right now for lunch and it is still just as delicious! I can see this being in our regular rotation, even making a big batch at the beginning of the week to enjoy for lunch several days. I also really liked the flavor of the quinoa cooked this way with the boullion and garlic and will probably always make it that way from now on. Thanks for posting this recipe!
definitely cut back on the lemon juice (I prefer 1/2 cup) and only used 2 TBS olive oil. I was out of chicken one time and it was still good! Another comment, about the red onion....I used approx 1/2 - 2/3 cup finely chopped red onion. Also, I have never included the green pepper...just seems like that wouldn't taste very good in this dish.
This was FABULOUS!!!! I will be making this again and often! Lots of wonderful fresh flavors blended together to make a delightful meal! Use as much fresh ingredients as possible fro the best flavor.
I made a vegetarian version for a party and it was great! I also used a mixture of white and red quinoa which made for a very pretty presentation. My guests, most of which are picky meat lovers, thought it was fantastic. The best part was trying to explain what quinoa is, lol. Have made several times since.
This is SO tasty! After mixing it up as the recipe stated it seemed WAY too saucy, so I cooked another cup of quinoa (as per the bag's instructions: 1 Cup to 1 1/4 Cups water) and stirred it in. I would recommend going a bit easy on the lemon juice and onion, but that's just my personal taste. I threw in tomatoes and cucumber pieces too for crunch, and served it cold. Delish!
Watch the serving size on this recipe - I believe it would serve 4 as a main dish salad, rather than 8. I didn't want any leftovers, so I made 1/4 of the recipe (supposed to serve 2) and there was only enough quinoa for one person. I had to cook another batch so that there would be enough for the two of us. Other than that, it was delicious! I did make a lot of changes, though, based on our food preferences and what I had on hand. I used roasted red pepper instead of green, skipped the onion, added fresh tomatoes, used fresh basil instead of chives, and skipped the salt (it was plenty salty!). The combination of flavors was delicious!
LOVE this recipe and have made it many times. First time followed the recipe exactly and it was good. Now I make it with a few changes and it's even better. Cook the quinoa in chicken or vegetable broth. Leave out the chicken. Use yellow instead of green bell pepper. Add chickpeas, shelled edamame, halved grape tomatoes, cucumber.
I make this salad frequently and love it more and more each time I make it. Its a very forgiving recipe and you really can't mess it up. I do not add the chicken and use red pepper instead of green pepper. This is a very refreshing and healthy salad. Quinoa is a wonderful source of fiber. Thanks for the recipe
Loved this! Modified quite a few things because I didn't have them. I was looking for something like tabbouleh, but with quinoa. Used leftover cooked quinoa - plain - so not bouillon or garlic. Added dressing - red wine vinegar instead of balsamic. No peppers or chives. No chicken. Let sit for an hour or more in the fridge to blend flavors. So yummy!
This is a delicious salad, a crowd pleaser and good for buffets since it can be served at room temperature. I added some wheat berries to the quinoa; they have to be cooked separately though.
Thank you so much for this absolutely delicious and healthy dish! Made it earlier in the week and am making it again as a side dish for our superbowl party this weekend. I desperately needed something healthy amidst all the typical superbowl snacks.
My husband absolutely LOVES this recipe! I didn't use all of the oil and balsamic because the lemon seemed like it was a LOT. I also used Inca Red Quinoa, not sure how different it is from regular. He says he has been craving these flavors which he can't find in restaurants here. So I've been ordered to ensure that there is always a portion of this in the fridge (I served it cold with roast chicken) Delish!
This was pretty good...not something I'd crave, but fresh and healthy. I used red quinoa so it was very colorful...might like it better with a little more feta.
Absolutely delicious! I passed on the salt since I figured the feta was enough salt for me. And I cooked my chix on the grill and served them beside the salad with pita, so we could make little salad/chicken sanwhiches as we ate. I LOVED it. I will certainly make this many more times, and love the use of quinoa! Quinoa is delicious and adds a super texture.
I found this very tasty. I reduced the lemon juice and added some tomatoes because I had to use them up.
I don't know what happend, but I did not care for this recipe and couldn't serve it to the family. I followed step by step, and couldn't understand why it tasted so... sour. To those who make this, I would suggest using less of the vinegar and lemon juice.
Very flavourful. I suggest that the lemon juice be cut down to 1/4 cup otherwise it is very sour (to my taste). Then increase the balsamic vinegar slightly as well as the olive oil. Really great...with or without the chicken. Great for healthy eating.
I'm only giving this recipe 4 stars because I had to make some adjustments based on other reviewer's comments. I honestly think that 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice has got to be a typo, there is no way that you could add that much lemon juice to any salad and have it be edible. I ended up only using 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I didn't use chicken, and instead used shelled, cooked edamame beans to add some protein to this salad. I only had a yellow bell pepper, which worked out well, because I really wanted to add cherry tomatoes and ended up with a very colorful, tasty, healthy salad
quick, delicious and healthy. also used chickpeas instead of chicken. didn't get my kids to try, but my fast food lovin' hubby liked it a lot.
I love this recipe! I wanted a recipe to try quinoa for the first time and this one looked pretty good. My whole family absolutely loved it! It tastes even better after it's been sitting for awhile to incorporate the ingredients. Super yummy!
Flavors are great, but I thought it could use a little less oil and lemon. It was also a bit mushy, which didn't make it look very appealing. Will definitely make again with less oil!
I made this last night and had some warm (which was excellent!) and brought it for lunch today served on a little bed of fresh arugula. It was excellent!!! I substituted the chicken with lightly sauteed crimini mushrooms and onions. I also omitted the bell pepper since I hate them and the salad turned out DELICIOUS! I love the flavors and the texture. This was my first time making quinoa and I will definitely make it again.
Very good...just cut down a little bit on the lemon juice. Do that...and I'd give this five stars.
Outstanding! If you like tabouleh salad, you will like this. Super healthy too! I left out the chicken and I only needed half of the lemon juice/olive oil as the recipe called for. Also, I used organic chicken stock instead of bouillon and water. Served room temperature and it was great!
This recipe is my top choice for potlucks and picnics. I always get asked for the recipe.
This is pretty good but could be way better. I added quite a bit more parsley and wanted even more. I cut way back on the lemon juice but it was still too much. I also wish I'd bought cherry tomatoes to add in, they'd add a great pop of juicyness. Thanks for the recipe; it's a great idea and I'd make again with my changes.
Loved this and it was super easy to make - my husband agreed that it was a "nice change of pace". I did change a few things - I marinated the chicken breast ahead of time in a Greek marinade; boiled the quinoa in chicken broth instead of the bouillon; only added half of a purple onion (it was plenty); and left the dressing on the side. It would probably taste even better then next day if I had added the dressing and let it soak, but my husband gets acid reflux from too much oil and lemon juice. Oh, and I added a can of garbanzo beans for even more protein. I'll probably make this with veggie broth and just the garbanzo beans (omitting the chicken) next time so it will be vegan for my sister.
Holy moly! I don't generally enjoy quinoa but made this recipe to humor my husband. This was absolutely incredible; so full of flavor. I also cooked the quinoa in chicken broth and added diced cucumber. The lemon flavor is intense, so use less lemon juice if you'd prefer the salad more mild. I thought it was excellent.
Great meal for a hot summer night. It's earthy, bright, and good for you. (It's also incredibly addictive!) Especially great for introducing others to quinoa.
This recipe was AWESOME! I have been experimenting with Quinoa in an effort to eat healthier. I've realized I prefer it cold, so I made this cold. Everyone at the party loved it...even people who didn't like olives. I love knowing it is healthy and it had so much flavor. It was very easy to make too. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking to make a healthy, satisfying, great-tasting side dish.
This was really good and easy! I added a little more of everything because I was serving a group. I also added some halved cherry tomatoes. It was a hit!
Delicious, healthy, and filling. What more can one want? This recipe was my first attempt to make quinoa at home and it was a total hit. Thanks so much for posting!
This was delicious as a main meal. I made the quinoa in veggie stock instead of chicken. I didn't add the chicken, parsley, chives, or oil (on a diet) and instead added some cooked shrimp and then on a whim, stirred in some garlic hummus. Yummy.
I love Quinoa and all it's versatile recipes. I especially think this version of a salad is great. My family loves it, especially cold. But maybe this winter we will eat it warm. I have changed the ingredients for our taste buds with cucumber & carrots along with the red bell pepper as green pepper bothers me. Other than that it is a tasty, healthy, & filling salad. I use this for any pot lucks and it gets great raves! Keep finding other Quinoa recipes also!
