Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

A colourful Mediterranean salad with quinoa, chickpeas and smoky piquillo pimientos. Brought together with a garlicky balsamic dressing and finished with vibrant pickled red onions and crumbled feta, this salad is packed with flavour.

Serves 6

1 cup Kiwi quinoa
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp Giusti balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
325g jar El Navarrico chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ 200g jar El Navarrico piquillo pimiento strips
10 Losada pitted gordal olives, thickly sliced
100g baby rocket leaves
75g feta, crumbled
Quick pickled red onions (recipe follows)
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, shredded 

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add quinoa and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender to the bite. Drain well and set aside to cool.

Place the garlic, balsamic and EVO in a small jar. Seal the jar with its lid and shake well to form a dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

Place quinoa in a large salad bowl. Add chickpeas, pimientos, olives, pickled onions, rocket and feta. Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss well to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Garnish with basil to serve.

Quick pickled red onions:
2 medium red onions, peeled and halved
1/3 cup Martin Pouret Tarragon Vinegar
1/3 cup water
3 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt

Finely slice the onions and place in a non-metallic, heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and pour hot liquid over the onions. Cover and set aside for 1 hour to pickle and cool. Drain onions and use immediately. Pickled onions will last for 2-3 weeks if stored in the fridge.

Recipe by Julie Le Clerc