I absolutely love “salads” that don’t exactly look like the typical salad which many think of (lettuce, croutons, dressing, veggies). I prefer using many of the grains that are out there (quinoa, barley, couscous, etc) to make a different type of salad to take for lunch. I have found that quinoa is the easiest (especially cooking it!), and has a great taste.
So having goat cheese in our fridge, and coming across a recipe on one of the food blogs, I tried this one out. I also grab any new ideas to put into my quinoa salads whenever I can. But, anything goes!
Goat Cheese & Roasted Pepper Quinoa Salad
Adapted from: Cooking After Five
2 cups of cooked quinoa
8 cups (16 oz) of fresh spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of red pepper flakes (or less/more)
1 cup of roasted red peppers, chopped
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
4 basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
6 oz goat cheese, crumbled up
With 1 teaspoon of olive oil, saute the fresh spinach for about 3-5 minutes with the minced garlic. Once the garlic begins to wilt, add the red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two.
Then mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except for the basil and goat cheese. Place the salad in a bowl (or tupperwear for lunch!) and sprinkle with some basil and goat cheese. We had 6 servings out of this for lunch.
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