Blistered Sweet Pepper and Marinated Feta Salad with Arugula and Quinoa

Quinoa is a superstar. With no gluten yet high in protein, it’s a perfect grain. It’s also sneaky, making sure it touches just about every ingredient in the salad so that with every forkful you get a sprinkling or more of quinoa. “Hey!” it says, “You can’t ignore me!” And who would want to? Here it blends perfectly with honey, dill, fruity olive oil, briny olives, sweet cherry tomatoes, earthy roasted peppers, and creamy, crumbly feta cheese.

This recipes comes to us courtesy of Fabio Viviani and is featured in his book, Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian. 

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup red quinoa
• 1 pound red bell peppers, sliced thin
• 1 pound yellow bell peppers, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped dill
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup arugula
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Directions

Bring a large pot of water, 2 to 3 quarts, to a boil and add a touch of salt. Pour in quinoa and boil for 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 3 minutes, then drain.

While quinoa is cooking, heat a sauté pan on high heat. Add peppers to the pan and cook for 1 minutes. Toss and cook for another minute. Turn off the heat and add a touch of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss for 30 seconds. Let sit in the pan for 2 minutes, and then transfer to a plate to cool.

Mix the honey and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, feta, dill, parsley, and olives. Toss to combine.

Once peppers have cooled to close to room temperature, add to the large bowl along with the arugula and quinoa. Season with salt and pepper and an additional drizzle of olive oil to bring everything together.

From Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian by Fabio Viviani; published by St. Martin’s Press. Copyright ©2017 by Fabio Viviani. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission. Page 32-33. Photo by Matt Armendariz.