Market Quinoa Salad with Fresh Mozzarella

Name: Market Quinoa Salad with Fresh Mozzarella
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 56 min
Yield: 5 -6
Ingredients: 3/4 C Quinoa (white, rinsed and drained); 1 1/2 C Water; 1 C Cherry Tomatoes (halved); 1/4 C Purple Onion (small dice, about 1/4 of an onion); 1 lb Shelling Peas (shelled, yielding about 1 C shelled (1 C frozen will work here too)); 1 C Yellow Bell Pepper (diced, about 1 pepper); 1 C Red Bell Pepper (diced, about 1 pepper); 1 1/2 C Zucchini (diced, about 1 zucchini); 1/8 C fresh Parsley (chopped); 3/4 C fresh Ciliegine Mozzarella (quartered (omit for vegan option)); 1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt; 10 grinds of Pepper; 3 springs of Fresh Thyme for garnish; 2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 1 tsp Garlic (minced); 1 1/2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar; 1/2 tsp Mustard; 1/2 tsp Oregano (dried); 1 tsp Lemon Juice

By Traci 40 Comments

A delicious, healthy and texture rich salad salad made with the freshest farmers market finds! Market Quinoa Salad with Fresh Mozzarella is vegetarian or vegan + gf!

Are y’all getting enough salad this summer? I can’t seem to get enough. It’s this heat wave we’ve recently had up here in the Pacific Northwest. I know I’m a wuss, and I am not complaining, but we’ve maxed out at around 76F! And that’s hot enough!

It’s a far cry from my days in Texas where hot meant it was going to be at least 100F. I’ll take my 76F degrees, thank you very much (but it still feels hot). This market quinoa salad with fresh mozzarella is sure to cool you off, no matter how you define ‘hot’!

Quinoa is a delicious way to incorporate superfoods into your diet. Quiona, a protein-packed powerhouse, is a complete protein. This means that it includes all nine essential amino acids, which is a good thing for those limiting or excluding animal protein.

The interesting thing about quinoa is that it is not a grain; rather, it is a seed of a plant that is related to spinach and Swiss chard. It is relatively inexpensive, especially when bought in bulk, and is widely available.

The peas and zucchini came from my CSA share, and the cherry tomatoes and onion, from a farm in the lush and productive Skagit Valley. I love shelling peas. I timed myself this time to see how long it would take me to shuck 1 lb of shelling peas: 9 minutes. And this was with my sweet Claire Cat telling me she was hungry, a big distraction!

Blanching the peas yields a beautiful, vibrant green and makes them smooth and silky. If you are unable to find fresh peas, you can sub frozen peas. I find that frozen peas are a great choice in many dishes because they hold their color and flavor so well. Be sure to blanch the frozen just as you would the fresh.

Fresh mozzarella is a funny thing. It comes in many different sizes, logs, balls and pre-sliced logs, to suit your desire. Ovolini is a variety for slicing and a good choice for Caprese salads and pizza. Bocconcini and Ciliegine come in smaller, spherical forms with Ciliegine being the smaller of the two and is about the size of a small cherry tomato.

Ciliegine is the variety I used in this recipe due to its small size. I quartered the little mozzarellas, in order to distribute the texture and flavor more evenly throughout the salad.

Y’all know how I like salads that hold up in the fridge for several days. Well… this one is not one of those salads. This must be enjoyed the day it’s made. Why? Zucchini is a high water content veggie, as are the tomatoes. So once the salt hits these veggies and it’s had time to set… it starts to get a bit soggy.

I’m not saying it won’t taste good on the second day; it just won’t be as fresh. So I advise to enjoy this salad the same day.

5 from 2 votes