Greek Quinoa Salad with Salmon

Name: Greek Quinoa Salad with Salmon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups quinoa; 3 cups chicken stock; 6 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated; 2 pinches kosher salt, plus more; Pinch freshly ground black pepper; Pinch red pepper flakes; ½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered; ½ cup Persian cucumber, sliced into half moons; ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped; 3 ounces feta; ¼ cup chopped parsley; 2 tablespoon chives, finely chopped, optional; 1 tablespoon basil, ribonned, optional; ¼ to ½ cup chopped Marinated Red Onions; Lemon wedges; 4 6- to-8- ounce salmon filets; Salt and pepper

posted by Teri Turner on Oct 23, 2024 0 comments »

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This Greek Quinoa Salad with Salmon is the perfect weeknight meal. It is fresh, delicious, and easy to make. It is the kind of dish where you feel fabulous every time you eat it.

an above view photo of salmon on a blue plate with quinoa salad on top

Table of Contents

A Lovely Thought From Teri

This Greek Quinoa Salad is the kind of dish you want to eat all the time. It’s the perfect meal when you want to eat healthy and feel your absolute best. It still feels indulgent, but it is packed with nutrients like healthy fats, fiber and omega-3s, which we know our bodies absolutely love.

When I’m thinking about ingredients I love having on hand, it always includes a beautiful piece of salmon in my fridge. It is so important to find high quality fish for cooking. If you’re in Chicago, there’s nobody better than Dirk’s. It is totally worth it to source good salmon, because a good piece of fish is going to be the difference maker in a delicious dish.

This Greek quinoa salad dinner is the kind of meal that comes together so easily for weeknight eating whether you’ve been cooking for decades or you’re just learning. Cook a lovely piece of salmon and be sure not to overcook it. I like my salmon to have a soft center. Make your quinoa, and combine everything for a fabulous meal. I love making extra quinoa to store in the fridge for meals the rest of the week. It is such a versatile ingredient, and there’s nothing better than having some in your fridge ready to enjoy.

I know you’re going to love this recipe as much as I do. It’s approachable, quick to make, and absolutely delicious.

How to Make Quinoa Delicious

The trick to make fabulous quinoa is to always make sure you rinse your quinoa extremely well before cooking. Rinsing removes the bitterness and gives you the perfect texture. By taking your time to rinse thoroughly, you will be left you with luscious and delicious quinoa as the base of your salad.

a three quarter view photo of salmon with greek quinoa salad on it on a white speckled plate

How to Serve Your Greek Quinoa Salad

This meal is delicious and satiating on its own. If you want to serve it alongside a feast inspired by Greek flavors, you could make up some Greek Salad or Greek Fries to complete your spread. If you are serving guests who don’t enjoy salmon, they could have their quinoa salad with Greek Lemon Chicken.

Of course it would be delicious to top your Greek quinoa salad recipe with extra marinated onions!

Ingredients

Dry quinoa
Chicken stock
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Cherry tomatoes
Persian cucumber
Kalamata olives
Feta cheese
Parsley
Chives
Basil
Marinated Red Onions
Lemon wedges
Salmon filets

Variations

The best part of this Greek quinoa salad is you can customize it to your taste. You could use any vegetables, sun dried tomatoes, red bell peppers, black olives, chickpeas, pepperoncinis, pine nuts, oregano, anything you enjoy. Have fun with what you have on hand to make this salad.

If you would like more lemon in your Greek salad dressing, pour some lemon juice in the dressing to make it a bit more of a lemon vinaigrette. If you don’t enjoy salmon, you could substitute my Shoreditch Chicken from my cookbook, or make everyday roast chicken breasts. This would also be fabulous as a vegan side dish. Remove the feta or substitute vegan feta, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. In no time, you have a delicious vegan quinoa salad.

How to Make Greek Quinoa Salad with Salmon

a photo of quinoa going into a pot of chicken broth

Make Your Quinoa and Dressing

Rinse the quinoa very well under cold water in a fine mesh strainer. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook the quinoa to the package directions. (Note: I personally like to simmer quinoa 5 minutes longer than the package instructions.) Take the saucepan off the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork, and transfer to a large serving bowl to cool.

In a small bowl or mason jar, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

a photo of two pieces of salmon in a nonstick pan on the stove

a photo of quinoa, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers in a bowl with a wooden spoon

Cook Salmon and Assemble Salad

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Season the salmon filets with salt and pepper then saute the salmon filets skin side down for 3 minutes, gently pressing them with a spatula for a few seconds. Using a fish spatula, carefully flip the fish and cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, for a medium-rare filet. Increase cooking time to 3-4 minutes for medium.

To the large bowl with the quinoa, add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta, fresh herbs, and vinaigrette and toss to combine well. Taste and add salt to taste. Squeeze lemon juice to taste over top and garnish with chopped Marinated Red Onions.

Serve the quinoa salad room temperature alongside the salmon and enjoy!

a close up photo of salmon with greek quinoa salad on a blue plate

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When ready to eat, you can enjoy right out of the fridge. For the salmon, I recommend enjoying immediately, or enjoy cold within two days of making it.

If you make this Greek quinoa salad, be sure to rate and review the recipe to let me know what you think. And if you want to follow along, head to Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest for more inspiration!