Healthy Black Bean and Feta Quinoa Salad

Name: Healthy Black Bean and Feta Quinoa Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
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)

What better way to accompany your next BBQ than with this healthy black bean and feta quinoa salad. This salad is so easy to put together and should be served cold. It’s also healthy…what’s not to like with that?

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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 one that included feta.

The feta cheese really does add to the flavor of this dish. Since it doesn’t include any dressing, the feta cheese helps to balance out the vegetables and black beans.

I came up with this black bean 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.

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.

You can also add protein to this salad as well, if you want something more hearty. I think grilled chicken breasts would be fabulous with this salad.

Common Questions:

Can I add other veggies to this recipe?

Yes! Please add and bulk this up if it doesn’t seem pleasing to you. Quinoa is such a staple, so you can add almost anything to it that would make you happy.

What about protein?

You can definitely add protein to this side dish. I think grilled chicken breasts or even some fried chicken would be fabulous in this recipe. Just remember that if you are following WW, this will impact the Smartpoints number.

I don’t like feta…can I use a different cheese?

Yes, you can use a different cheese. I would suggest something mild. My suggestions would be Ricotta, another Greek cheese, or Goat cheese. Please note that I have not personally tested another cheese for this recipe.

What is the serving size?

A serving size for this recipe is 1 cup

How to make the 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.
Serve the Salad
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?