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One Pot Mediterranean Quinoa

Easy, healthy, fresh and crazy delicious - that makes it a win-win-win-win!
Course Main, Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 9 hours 14 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours 14 minutes
Author Chris Scheuer - Inspired by Annie's Eats Mexican Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 14 ½- ounce can petite diced tomatoes*
  • 2 tablespoons pesto
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 15 ounce can chick peas drained
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large yellow bell pepper
  • ¼ medium red onion
  • 1 medium avocado peeled, cored and halved
  • 1 medium English seedless cucumbers**, or three mini cucumbers
  • 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, red, yellow or a combination, halved
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 ounces Feta cheese**** diced or crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped rosemary***

Instructions

  1. Fill a medium size bowl about half way full of fresh water. Add the quinoa and stir or swish with your hand for about 30 seconds. Drain quinoa and allow to sit in strainer for about 10 minutes while prepping veggies.
  2. Dice peppers, red onion and cucumber into ¼-inch pieces. I like to use my veggie chopper for this.
  3. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add drained quinoa and cook, stirring constantly until all liquid is evaporated and you begin to smell a nutty aroma, about 2-3 minutes. (Don't skip this step. This will keep your quinoa from being soggy and clumping together.)
  4. Add tomatoes (undrained), pesto, broth, drained chickpeas, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low (maintaining just a slight simmer). Cook for 20 minutes then remove cover and turn off heat. Cool, uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir with a fork to fluff.
  5. Dice avocado into ¼-inch pieces.
  6. Add diced peppers, red onion, avocado, cucumber and halved tomatoes to quinoa. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Stir gently to combine.
  7. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Top with Feta cheese and chopped rosemary. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Serves 6
* If you can't find or don't have petite diced, regular diced tomatoes will work just fine. Fire roasted, diced tomatoes also work well and give nice deep color.
** you could also use a regular cucumber, just scoop out the seeds before dicing
*** 2 tablespoons fresh basil also works well in place of the rosemary
**** I prefer to purchase block Feta, as I think it has better flavor and adds to the presentation, but crumbled will also work.