Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients, Notes, and Substitutions

This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad calls for simple ingredients and it whips up pretty quick. Before you get to the full recipe below, here are a few additional notes and substitute ideas:

Dressing Ingredients

This dressing really brings out the flavors of the veggies and pulls everything together. Here's what you'll need and a few additional notes:

• Dressing Base - consists of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice. I would stick to this combination, but you can alter the amount of each one to taste.
• Dijon mustard - adds a pop of zing to the dish. You can use regular mustard too.
• Maple syrup - agave is a great substitute, but you can use any sweetener you have on hand.
• Seasonings - dried oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper
• Garlic - fresh is best, but you can replace it with ¾ teaspoon of granulated garlic.

Salad Ingredients

The remaining ingredients are basic and easy to find at your local grocery store. Here's what you'll need:

• Extra-firm tofu - this is used for the vegan feta, but you can skip this step if you find a store-bought variety. Violife and Follow Your Heart are both delish!
• Quinoa - you can also use couscous, rice, barley or grain of choice.
• Red Onion - for a milder flavor, you can use green onion instead.
• Cucumber - you can use mostly any vegetable in its place such as jicama, zucchini, carrots, etc.
• Jarred Roasted Pepper - you can roast your own (like I did in my roasted red pepper salad) or you can use raw peppers.
• Kalamata Olives - you can us any variety of olives that you like. Capers are a nice replacement, too.
• Fresh Basil - parsley or mint will work well here.

How to make Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

First, you'll need to make the zesty dressing. Just whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl until combined and adjust flavors to taste.

Now, you'll need to crumble the tofu (make sure it's pressed first). Lightly sprinkle it with salt and pour 1-2 tablespoons of dressing on top. Gently work it in with your fingers to coat. Let it marinate while you finish the rest.

Cook the quinoa, dice the onion and cucumber, cut the pepper into short strips, slice the olives, and chop the basil. Now you're ready to put it all together (let the quinoa cool first).

Add the quinoa, onion, cucumber, olives, pepper, and basil in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over everything and gently toss to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Top with the marinated tofu crumbles when you're ready to serve.

Add-In Ideas

This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is so easy to customize, so feel free to omit ingredients that you don't like, and add more of what you do.

You can add things like artichoke hearts, capers, pine nuts, chickpeas, kidney beans, peas, corn, tomatoes, green onions, parsley, mint, sliced almonds, dried fruit, vegan parmesan, and more.

If you're not into quinoa at all, but love the flavors of this recipe, you may like to try my Mediterranean Pasta Salad. It's just as tasty!