Beetroot and Quinoa Salad with Feta Cheese and Olives

A long favoured staple in my kitchen, quinoa seems to be the trendy grain of the day. I've come across quite a few new quinoa ideas over the past few months, including some inspiring recipes from Ricki's Lucky Comestible week featuring quinoa and also Lucy's Beetroot and Quinoa Salad that I made only a few days after she shared the idea with her readers in a post devoted to economical, yet nourishing and tempting lunch box alternatives. Lucy suggests you serve the cooked grains wrapped in lettuce, drizzled with a bit of yogurt or sour cream. I opted for a side-dish dinner version, and included some feta cheese.

Beetroot and Quinoa Salad with Feta and Olives

2 cups of water or stock
1 cup of quinoa
1 small beet, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon
sea salt to taste
1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup or more of pitted and sliced black olives
1/4 - 1/2 cup of crumbled feta

Soak the quinoa overnight in the stock or water. In a medium-large pot, bring the quinoa, soaking liquid, beet, zest and juice, olive oil and a bit of salt to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and cover and cook undisturbed until the liquid is absorbed - roughly 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Now add half of the chopped herbs to the pot along with the olives. Fluff with a fork. Let cool and add the feta and remaining herbs. Serve as is or wrap in lettuce leaves.

Serves 4 - 6.