Artichoke Quinoa Salad

Artichoke hearts are such a wonderful addition to a fresh quinoa salad. This artichoke quinoa salad includes fresh feta cheese, cucumber, cilantro, herbs, and red onions.

Then it’s drizzled with a honey lemon vinaigrette made with fresh lemon juice, honey, and olive oil.

You can put a lot of twists on a quinoa salad. Adding artichokes is just one way to make an incredible side dish to have on hand in your fridge for the week.

Also try: Cucumber Feta Quinoa Salad

Ingredients for quinoa salad with feta and cucumber

Here are the ingredients for this fresh artichoke quinoa salad:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa: The quinoa used with this recipe is white quinoa, but you can use any type of quinoa.
• 2 cups water: Like with rice, you’ll need the water to cook the quinoa. (**If you already have quinoa made, use three cups of cooked quinoa .)
• 1 cup chopped cucumber: The quinoa salad in these photos has 1/2 of an English cucumber, but you can use any type of cucumber.
• 1 jar marinated quartered artichoke hearts: You can just as easily used canned artichoke hearts. Either rinse them to remove the oil or simply drain them.
• ¾ cup chopped red onion (or ½ a red onion): Some chopped red onion adds another beautiful color as well as an important flavor.
• ½ cup crumbled feta: Don’t buy pre-crumbled feta, which tends to be dry. Instead, use fresh feta and crumble it yourself.
• ½ cup fresh cilantro: Cilantro is so perfect with these other ingredients. If you’re not a fan of this herb, substitute a little fresh basil.
• Salt and pepper: For seasoning.

Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

• ¼ cup lemon juice (juice from about ½ a lemon)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 clove garlic
• salt and pepper
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 – 2 sprigs tarragon (optional)

Equipment to Make Artichoke Quinoa Salad

To make this quinoa salad with artichoke hearts, you’ll need some basic equipment. Here’s what to have on hand:

• Rice cooker or pot with a lid: You’ll need to cook the raw quinoa just as you would cook rice. You’ll use proportions of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water. (With the rice cooker, you simply add the ingredients and turn it on. With the pot with a lid, you bring the ingredients to a boil and then let it simmer covered about 15 minutes until all the water has absorbed.)
• Small or medium pot: You’ll also need a pot to briefly boil the peas, if you’re using frozen peas. You can cook your peas in the same pot that you cook the quinoa if you would like to do these steps in two different stages, which you can do easily.
• Grater: You’ll need your grater to grate a garlic clove for the honey lemon vinaigrette. A zester will work just as well.. (You can also grate some lemon zest into this dish if you were using a fresh lemon for the lemon juice.)
• Cutting board and sharp knife: You’re gonna be doing a bit of chopping with several of the ingredients. Get that knife sharp!
• Mixing bowls: Get a fairly large mixing bowl to combine the main quinoa salad ingredients. You’ll also need a smaller bowl to mix up with the vinaigrette.
• Serving bowl: Finally, have a large size serving bowl on hand to put the final salad in.
• Other: You’ll need a large spoon to mix the ingredients and serve the quinoa salad. You’ll also need a whisk or a fork to whisk the honey vinaigrette.

How to make artichoke quinoa salad with feta and cucumber

The first step to a good quinoa salad is to get the quinoa cooking. Simply add one cup of quinoa and two cups of water to a rice cooker and start the machine.

If you don’t have a rice cooker, no problem. Simply use a pan and put the ingredients in, bringing it to a boil. Cover the pan and lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. The quinoa is done when the water has absorbed.

Prepping other ingredients

While the quinoa is cooking, turn to preparing your other ingredients. This is the step when you’ll turn to your cutting board.

First, finely chop half a red onion. Next, chop about a half cup of fresh cilantro. Then, crumble about 1/2 cup of feta cheese. If you’re using a block of feta, it will usually be about half the block. Rinse the artichoke hearts and rough chop them into slightly smaller pieces.

Finally chop about one cup of cucumbers. If you’re using an English cucumber, this will be about half the cucumber.

Quinoa Salad with Artichoke: Main Ingredients

Add the cooked quinoa to a large mixing bowl. Then add the other ingredients that you’ve prepared so far: the red onion, the cilantro, the feta cheese, the peas, and the cucumbers.

Add a bit of salt and black pepper to season and gently stir the ingredients to combine.

If you’re using a fresh lemon to make the lemon juice for the vinaigrette, consider adding a bit of lemon zest to the quinoa salad mix. It’s not necessary, but it adds a little more flavor!

Honey lemon vinaigrette for a artichoke quinoa salad

Prepare to make a honey lemon vinaigrette by first grating a clove of garlic. Then , if you’re using a fresh lemon, squeeze the lemon until you have a quarter cup of lemon juice. Usually this will be half a lemon.

To make the honey lemon vinaigrette, just add all the ingredients, except the olive oil into a small bowl and whisk away. Slowly drizzle the olive oil in to emulsify it.

How to Serve Artichoke Quinoa Salad

To serve this dish, drizzle the honey lemon vinaigrette into the quinoa salad. Use a large spoon to gently mix until the salad is well combined with the honey lemon vinaigrette.

Then add to a serving bowl and use a large spoon to serve.

You can keep this artichoke quinoa salad in the refrigerator for up to 5 to 6 days.

Try other incredible salad recipes from Bacon & Bevs:

• Pomegranate and Pear Salad
• Strawberry Gorgonzola Salad
• Asian Caesar Salad