Quinoa and figs salad
There are fruits out there that are perfect for both desserts and savoury dishes. Figs are undoubtedly one of those fruits. I had my first figs a few years ago in Croatia. They were sweet as honey, full of flavour and simply delicious.
Last Friday, my Hungarian grandmother gave me a basket of figs from her Budapest garden. The first thing that strikes me when I compare the figs I eat in Croatia to those I have in Hungary is their colour. Those bought in Croatia are bright yellow and much smaller. These figs I get from my grandmother or mother-in-law are intense purple and large. Maybe it depends on the fig tree variety, but year after year I have the same observations while eating Croatian and Hungarian figs.
When I got these figs on Friday, I ate a few but I had plenty left and needed to decide what to do with those. I had already a cake made for the weekend so I didn’t want to bake another one, so I decided to use the figs for salads.
I love the combination of sweet figs with cheese. It does not matter what type of cheese it is, as figs wonderfully complement practically any cheese. For making my salad, I used feta cheese, I also added walnuts, quinoa and spinach to this mix. I created not only a salad, but also a vitamin bomb, in which the different flavours and textures combined fantastically.
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Quinoa and figs salad.
- 100 g tricolour quinoa
- 200 g feta cheese
- 10 walnuts
- 10 big, ripe figs
- 80 g fresh spinach
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of honey
How to make quinoa and figs salad.
Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on its package. For the quinoa that I used, the suggested cooking time was 25 minutes. Once the quinoa is cooked, pour it through a colander and let it cool down.
Wash the figs, cut them into quarters or halves.
Break the peeled walnuts into smaller pieces with your hands.
Dice the feta cheese into large cubes.
Dressing: combine olive oil, lemon juice and honey in a cup.
Put all the ingredients into a bowl or place them side by side on a large serving plate and drizzle them on the top with the dressing.
Good to know when making quinoa and figs salad.
You can use regular quinoa instead of tri-colour, it doesn’t matter. I had a tri-colour quinoa at home, hence it was my choice. I did not salt the water in which I cooked the quinoa.
I always store walnuts in their shell. When I need to use them for something, I break them down, but only then, not before. Walnuts removed from their shell lose their flavour after some time.
In this recipe, I used lactose-free feta.
Do you like salads with figs? If so, try our recipe for Quinoa and glazed carrot salad.
