I’ve received a few requests for more quinoa salad recipes, and the only reason I haven’t posted one sooner is because I like my originals so much (Greek, Mexican, North African) that every time I make a pot of quinoa I want to stick with my old faithfuls! Last Sunday, however, I was ready to branch out. This salad is inspired by one of my favourite appetizers of all time – the antipasto platter.

Making an Antipasto Quinoa Salad could go so many ways. I had some time on my hands, and lots of vegetables in my fridge from a recent trip to the Brickworks Farmers Market, so I decided to opt for oven grilling my own vegetables. However, I have no doubt that if you got prepared antipasto veggies either from a supermarket antipasto bar or even jarred vegetables (I’m thinking roasted red peppers, sundried or semi-sundried tomatoes, grilled artichokes, etc) this would work just as well. Also it would cut the prep time to basically zero. The choice is yours, but you need to have about 2.5 cups of vegetables to round out the salad.

I made a double batch of this recipe on Sunday, and it made enough for lunch every day last week, and 2 dinners. I ate it alone for lunch, and atop EVOO & balsamic massaged kale for dinner. I’m not going to lie – by Friday I was a little bored of it, but there really are enough different flavours in here to keep the monotony down. I also have the satisfaction of knowing: (a) I didn’t waste any money on buying lunches this week and (b) I didn’t succumb to any processed junk food! Now of course if you made this for a crowd, I’m fairly confident there would be no leftovers for your lunches. It’s that good.

Antipasto Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

Antipasto Vegetables

2.5 cups prepared antipasto vegetables
OR
2 peppers
1 quart cherry tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 Tbsp EVOO

Dressing

1/4 cup EVOO
1tsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Rest of Salad

1.5 cups dry quinoa
1/2 cup olives, halved
1 can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 cups chopped parsley

Instructions

If using prepared antipasto vegetables skip to #6

If using fresh vegetables:

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil.
Chop zucchini into rounds and peppers into bite-sized pieces.
Place cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers on baking sheet and drizzle with EVOO.
Roast for 30 minutes, rotating tray once during cooking.
Drain vegetables and chop any large pieces into bite-sized pieces.
Whisk EVOO, balsamic and maple syrup together in a small bowl and set aside.
Rinse quinoa and cook according to package directions.
Combine all salad ingredients in large mixing bowl, top with dressing, and toss to combine.

Fresh antipasto vegetables ideas: peppers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, red onion, eggplant

Prepared antipasto vegetables ideas: sundried tomatoes, semi-sundried tomatoes, artichokes, roasted red peppers, marinated green beans