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Jul
20
2012
Tags: arugula, avocado, balsamic vinaigrette, cucumber, feta cheese, healthy, olive oil, parsley, quinoa, salad, tabbouleh, tomato, vegetarian
One of my favorite things to do is go to lunch with my girlfriends. I love trying new dishes and new restaurants while chit chatting the afternoon away. That’s the best right?!
A favorite place to go grab a bite to eat is right in Fashion Island, Newport Beach. It’s a little cafe/bakery called Le Pain Quotidien which means “the daily bread”
They serve fresh, healthy and wholesome menu options that leave you feeling great. Last week, if you follow me on Instagram, you saw my photo of a salad similar to the one I have here today. It was a gorgeous quinoa tabbouleh over arugula and drizzled with dressing. It was so fresh and wonderful I had to re-create it at home for you all!
So…..here you have my take on Le Pain’s Quinoa Tabbouleh Arugula Salad 
Enjoy!
You start with a beautiful bed of arugula leaves….or any of your favorite greens.
You’ll whip up my simple quinoa recipe that is perfect over your greens….or eaten straight out of the bowl.
Time for a simple balsamic vinaigrette. My husband, the lovely hand model will be demonstrating this for us today. Start with some extra virgin olive oil into a mason jar. I would use a large mason jar for the whole reciope, what you see here was for 2 salads for my hubby and I
Add some balsamic vinegar next please
Some kosher salt to the jar.
….and some freshly ground black pepper.
Here’s the fun part, give a good shake.
No, a really good shake. My husband was being too gentle with it, lol! Shake like crazy until nice and combined.
Set your dressing aside and slice a beautifully ripe avocado.
There we go, now fan the avocado slices around your greens.
Take a giant cookie scoop or spoon and place your lovely quinoa right on top of your greens.
Yes!!
Here you have one of my favorite salads that you can enjoy right at home. This salad is gluten free too, yippee!
My husband is not the world’s biggest arugula fan, so he uses spinach leaves which was equally as delicious, so use what you’d like.
Make sure you drizzle some of that wonderful dressing over your salad and eat up!
Ingredients2 cups dry quinoa
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 large cucumber, diced
- 8 ounces crumbled Feta Cheese
- 1/2 cup minced parsley leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (maybe a touch more after tasting)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups washed and dried arugula leaves ( or salad greens of choice)
- 2 large ripe avocados, pitted and thinly sliced, about 1/2 inch thick
Directions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl and fluff with fork. Let cool for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
- When quinoa is cooled for the most part, add Parmesan, tomatoes, cucumber, Feta, parsley, salt and pepper, stirring to combine.
- To prepare dressing, place olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper into a large mason jar. Close lid and shake like crazy for a good minute, or until dressing is nicely combined. Drizzle half into quinoa, stirring to combine. Save remaining dressing for drizzling over greens.
- Divide arugula between 4 large plates. Top arugula with large spoonfuls of quinoa and garnish plate with avocado slices. Drizzle greens with a touch of dressing and serve.
Makes 4 dinner size servings
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26 Responses | Comments RSS | TrackBack URI
I love Balsamic anything…and your vinaigrette with the salad and avocado mixed in – perfect summer easy meal!
This looks so good – I really enjoy lunches like this. I have never made anything with quinoa – I think this may be my first! My – that avo does look good hey!
I love quinoa tabbouleh, and make it all the time. I love the idea of eating it on a salad. I use food should taste good chips or cucumber to scoop it into my mouth. And sometimes just straight out of the bowl. Can’t wait to try it with fresh greens!
Oh my gosh, GORGEOUS salad girl!! What a refreshing summer lunch. Love those action shots of the salad dressing! What a great helper you had
Such a great and healthy quinoa recipe Jenny!! Must make this weekend. Miss you girl.
I can’t wait to make this! I LOVE arugula and quinoa so I don’t know why I never thought of putting them together! My hubby is like yours and likes spinach better than arugula…must be a guy thing!
Those silly guys!! Either way, it’s delicious
Looks great!! And so similar to the one at Le Peite – - I love that little cafe. It’s my favourite place for hot chocolate
I am definitely gonna try this!!!
Da-yuuuuum!
This looks so good! I love arugula but don’t pair it with quinoa often enough! Can’t wait to give this one a try.
Hope you enjoy Wendy!!
Absolutely adore this Jenny!
this is right up my alley!
Oh, yum! I love all of your pictures, they are beautiful!!
Yum! This looks super delicious and very healthy! My husband would love this!
It’s a good one! Hope you enjoy!!
So healthy! I quinoa but don’t cook with it enough. I’ll have to make this soon!
Ooh! I love shaking up a good salad dressing.
The word “tabouleh” reminds me of one of our favorite restaurants in California. If you’re ever heading out to Vegas, right off the 15 in Victorville is a Middle Eastern restaurant called Ala’ al-Deen. Don’t be turned off by the fact that it’s in Victorville. 
The BEST Middle Eastern we’ve ever come across. We miss it so much. Here’s a link to it on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/ala-al-deen-victorville-2
Anyway, I’ll have to give this salad a try as I’m searching for more health-conscious recipes, and this seems to fit the bill! Something fun and different, too. Thanks, Jenny!
Now THIS is my kinda meal; gluten-free and beautiful! Love it; such a fun summer recipe. Thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend.
I just don’t understand how anyone can NOT like arugula. Your Quinoa Tabbouleh Arugula Salad is going straight to my “Salads” board on Pinterest. Love the added touch of avocados. Oh geez, wait a minute–I have an “Avocado” board, too.
Keep writing…
What a great and creative salad! This would make a fantastic summer entree!
[...] this: Quinoa Tabbouleh Arugula Salad. I have become obsessed with quinoa lately. If you don’t know what it is, just buy it, make [...]
OMG I made and ate this scrumptious salad over the weekend (still craving). Added dried cranberries to offset the saltiness of the feta cheese. I also added a few more crunchy diced veggies (celery, zucchini) just to give myself a pat on the back while cleaning out additional fresh veggies on hand. Most definitely a keeper and I will make again & again. Thanks!
There’s so much to love about this salad! The avocado! The arugula! The cheeses! And that dressing! I can’t wait to give this a try – thanks so much for the amazing recipe!!
So glad you like what you see Meagan
Thanks!!