Summer is quickly approaching and what better way to accompany your BBQ than with this healthy black bean and feta quinoa salad. This salad is so easy to put together and should be served cold.
What makes this salad so great is the feta cheese. I do love feta cheese and I think it really compliments this dish. When I was thinking about an easy summer side dish, I knew that I had to make it include feta.
My love affair of feta cheese is pretty evident on the blog. Think: this strawberry summer quinoa salad with feta is a perfect example. While that salad was on the sweet side, this one is savory.
I came up with this salad for Memorial Day (my family is great for being guinea pigs), and my mom loved it. I’m hoping she wasn’t just saying that she loved it because she gave birth to me…I hope she really and truly meant it.
Besides the feta cheese, this dish has green and red peppers as well as black beans in it. The explosion of flavors really popped from the peppers and beans together. The cheese just added that little bit extra zip that it needed.
If you like cold salads as a side dish, you should also try this easy orzo and feta salad with tomatoes.
Fun note: These pictures were the first ones taken for the blog at the new house. I’m sorry they are so sparce (they will get better…I promise). I just couldn’t find anything I needed to dress them up and wanted to shoot these that day before we ate all the salad.
I love that you can combine so many things in quinoa to dress it up. Plain quinoa isn’t really my favorite…I like to add veggies or fruits to it to add in the delicious flavors and really make it pop.
To make this Healthy Black Bean and Feta Quinoa Salad:
Cook the Quinoa
Heat 2 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to the pot. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the burner and let the quinoa stand, covered for 5 minutes.
Assemble the Salad
Once the quinoa is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl. Add in the black beans, peppers and feta. Stir to combine. Serve immediately. If you want to serve this cold, let the quinoa cool off before you add the veggies and feta.
You can do that by taking it out of the pot and put it into a bowl. This will help it cool faster. You could also place it in the refrigerator to cool as well.
What are your go to appetizer/side recipes?
Healthy Black Bean and Feta Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup feta crumbled
Instructions
Cook the Quinoa
- Heat 2 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the burner and let stand, covered for 5 minutes.
Assemble the Salad
- Once the quinoa is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl. Add in the black beans, peppers and feta. Stir to combine. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Yes, a serving is 1 cup. For all my recipes, if it doesn’t specify a specific serving size, it would be 1 cup. But I usually let you know on the recipe card. I’m sorry that this recipe doesn’t have it on there.
This looks amazing and perfect for taking to the office for lunch. I see the nutritional info, but it doesn’t say how much is a serving. One cup? Just curious since I’m trying to log my calories. Thanks for the great idea!
I didn’t add any spices to it. It really didn’t need anything.
what do you add for spices ?
This is so tasty. I have made this as my side dish to different cookouts lately. It’s so easy to make – and tastes amazing.
This looks so good and so satisfying!!
I love feta too. I love it so so much, it’s hard to stop adding it to different recipes. I think a Greek salad with feta all over it sounds fantastic.
This looks soooo tasty. I love Feta. I just made a Greek salad and covered it in Feta. Never too much.
I can’t get enough feta. I really can’t stop eating it on things…it’s so good!
I do really have a thing about feta. I can’t get enough of it. It’s too good to pass up.
Yes, it’s a great lunch. I had it last week as part of my lunch and it was perfect. So simple to make and delicious.
You had me at feta……
Feta on everything! Love it.
Simple and yummy! Would be a great lunch!