I’m very excited about the pumpkins, apples and other fall produce that is showing up at our farmers market, but I’m also a little sad to see the summer tomatoes disappearing. If you’re like me and are still trying desperately to make use of the last of summer’s bounty, today’s recipe is for you.
The original recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, which is probably my new favorite cookbook. I gave this cookbook to my mom for Christmas, but it was one of those gifts that I secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wanted to keep for myself. My mom, being the perceptive woman that she is, gave me my own copy for my birthday this summer. Since then I’ve made a ton of the recipes from this book and we’ve loved nearly every one of them. We’ve enjoyed them so much that it has been hard to get pictures of them before they are all gone!
I definitely wanted to share this vibrant and colorful salad with you though. This unique salad is packed with ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, tangy sourdough croutons, and sprinkling of quinoa—a combination that is sure to please and help you hold on to summer just a little bit longer!
Quinoa and Toasted Sourdough Salad
Adapted from Plenty
- ¼ cup quinoa
- 4 slices of sourdough bread
- Olive oil to brush the bread
- 4 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 small English cucumber, diced
- 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1½ tablespoons chopped mint
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- ¼ of a cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 small garlic cloves, crushed
- Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°. Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the box. When quinoa is tender, drain and set aside.
While the quinoa is cooking, brush both sides of the bread with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes and turn over. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the bread is dry and crisp. Remove bread from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool, tear the bread into bite-sized pieces.
Put the diced vegetables into a large bowl and carefully stir in the remaining ingredients. Gently fold in the quinoa and sourdough croutons and add salt and pepper to taste.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card | Notes About Recipe Ratings |
|
Tasty Rating Four Chefs (Delicious!) |
We loved the combination of fresh herbs, sweet tomatoes, and tangy sourdough. |
|
Easy Rating
Four Easy Chairs (“ABC, Easy as 123…”) |
Cooking the quinoa and toasting the bread adds a few steps, but overall this salad comes together pretty quickly. |
|
Healthy Rating
Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise) |
Lots of veggies in this salad and the quinoa adds a little bit of protein. It would be a little healthier if you used whole grain bread, but the taste might not be the same. |
|
Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved) |
Most of the ingredients were organic and the tomatoes were local and organic. |
I am very excited about this fall season too, all of the amazing and colorful produce. I love it! Great salad!!! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Great work on that dish .. It looks healthy and delicious and beautifully presented!
Add breads to the dish would make it a perfect light meal.
I’m mourning the loss of summer foods too!…and thinking I want to make a fall-inspired version of this and include the quinoa and toasted bread!!
Sally, your quinoa salad looks delicious, love the mint, cilantro and parsley in it. SO healthy and tasty.
Hope you have a great week ahead
This is an interesting twist on your average salad with quinoa, in the fact the quinoa seems more like an accent and the sourdough is more of the base. It sounds amazing and looks beautiful too.
Beautiful salad. Don’t you just love the taste of the bread mixed with vinegar and herbs? I could eat this right now.
This looks so fantastic- Fresh and light, yet still hearty thanks to the bread. Sourdough is one of my favorite yeast-y options, so this sounds perfect to me! Gorgeous photos too.
I’ve been lusting after Plenty for a while now too, and you’re only strengthening the temptation to go buy it!
Looks like summer in a bowl! I am doing the same thing as you, trying to hold onto some summer recipes as we are entering into fall.
Plenty is one of my favorite cookbooks also, though I really need to cook more from it! This salad looks amazing. I love a good bread salad but with sourdough and quinoa, it sounds so much more delicious than any I’ve ever had!
What a great way to use the last of the herbs and garden vegetables before we get that freeze! Great recipe!
what a great salad! I’m loving the mixture of ingredients and flavors in this!
I can’t tell you how sad I am the tomatoes are gone. Boo hoo!
However, your couscous looks divine. I love couscous. Love it! xo