Green Salad with Quinoa, Lemon, Feta & Mint
Who says it’s not easy being green? This crunchy fresh spring salad recipe is shared by the Adelaide Central Market, along with more tips for cooking with beans and peas.
Ingredients
150g green beans, trimmed
150g snow peas, trimmed
150g fresh podded broad beans
150g sugar snap peas, trimmed
50g snow pea shoots, trimmed
¼ cup white quinoa, rinsed
75g goat’s feta, crumbled
¼ cup mint leaves
¼ cup toasted flaked almonds
Lemon dressing
1 lemon, juice & zest
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil (extra virgin)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the beans and peas for 2 minutes, then refresh under cold water to stop them cooking.
Remove the skins from the broad beans.
Place quinoa in a small saucepan and cover with ½ cup water.
Place over a medium-low heat and bring up to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the water has been absorbed and the grains have opened and become translucent.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
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To make the dressing, place all the ingredients together in a screw-top jar and shake until well combined.
To assemble the salad, place the blanched greens in a large mixing bowl with the cooked quinoa, feta, mint and almonds and toss together until well combined. Serve with lemon dressing.
Three ways with beans and peas:
- For a light pea and mint soup, melt 20g butter over low heat, add 1 diced onion, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add 1kg podded peas, 2 cups chicken stock and bring to the boil, cook for 10 minutes. Add ½ an iceberg lettuce, a 400ml can evaporated milk, ¼ cup mint leaves, salt and pepper. Puree with a stick blender until smooth.
- To add extra flavour to steamed beans, melt 50g butter in a frying pan, add 1 clove chopped garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the juice of ½ lemon, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and then toss the cooked beans until well coated. To serve, sprinkle with toasted almonds.
- For a delicious toast, using a fork mix together 1 cup each of cooked peas and cook broad beans that have had their skins removed. Toast slices of sourdough, drizzle with olive oil and rub with garlic. Top with broad bean mixture, crumbled feta and torn mint leaves, and season with salt and pepper.
