I know I shouldn’t complain (after all I grew up in Houston and attended graduate school in Austin) but it’s been hot in Colorado. Ninety degree days coupled with the intense mountain sun leaves me both sunburned and slightly lethargic. Although I’m sure the cloud cover and drizzle would get to me after a few months, I find myself craving the moisture of the Pacific Northwest. Our near perfect trip to Portland certainly doesn’t help alleviate the desire for a dreary day, a warm cup of coffee, and a good book.
But meals like this green bean and quinoa summer salad certainly do help on these hot, unending days. Ryan and I made this together on Saturday morning as Lucy scampered under our feet. The green beans were blanched to retain their crispness, sunflower seeds were toasted with fragrant spices, and a homemade vinaigrette complimented the feta cheese nicely. While this salad can certainly be enjoyed warm, I prefer it after it’s had time to chill and settle for a few hours. It would be perfect to make on a Sunday or Monday evening as it would hold up well throughout the week and serve as an ideal mid-day meal.
Green Bean and Quinoa Summer Salad
8 oz fresh green beans
1 cup quinoa
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
4 oz feta, crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
Juice from one lemon
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Cook green beans in a large pot of boiling water for three minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl of ice water. Meanwhile, prepare 1 cup of quinoa by combining with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer until water has evaporated (about 15 to 20 minutes).
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet. Cook sunflower seeds, tossing often, until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Make vinaigrette: toast coriander, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant. Let cool, then chop. Whisk together with oil, vinegar, and mustard in small bowl; season well with salt and pepper.
Toss green beans, barley, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, feta, dill, lemon juice, and vinaigrette in a large bowl. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Green beans are so good right now, and this is such a great way to use them! I love the looks of this salad, Monet, and wish I had a big bowl! 🙂
Here’s hoping it cools down for you soon! It’s hot here one day and much cooler the next, which is good. The green bean salad sounds and looks delicious. Perfect for summer!
That looks delish! Bet it is awesome with fresh green beans. 🙂
Love all about this salad, including the fresh dill, that for some reason I find that is a perfect match for green beans….
I love salads that can sit in the fridge for a couple of days, so perfect for a light lunch….
I’m always that person who puts anything and everything in salad… and for some reason I’ve never tried green beans! This looks amazing, I cannot wait to try it out. I just had a quinoa salad for lunch yesterday that I added chickpeas, avocado, walnuts, edamame, and chia seeds to. 🙂
Welcome back from Portland! It sounded and looked like an awesome trip. This quinoa salad has me swooning as it is exactly what I want for lunch right now. Perfect for summer!
I’m seeing such great salads lately. I especially like the use of quinoa in this. We’re using wheatberries in our salad tonight!
Salads like this are some of my favorite dinners! I am not complaining about the heat at all – winter was just so terrible! Do you really like Portland? I’ve thought about moving there one day.
This looks delicious! Love green beans and they sound wonderful with the quinoa – so fresh and perfect for summer!
I’ve been putting quinoa or farro in so many of my salads lately. This is such a fun way to jazz up green beans!
I love fresh summer green beans and anything with feta and quinoa. This looks like the perfect thing to survive these sweltering summer days in North Carolina. I definitely know what you mean about the heat!
I’ve been loving summer salads with quinoa. This one looks delicious, Monet!
Monet,
I love adding quinoa to salads with lots of veggies. I’ll have to try the fresh green beans in the salad, too, with the Feta cheese.
Oh I never know what to do with quinoa – this is a lovely idea! Perfect for an outdoor BBQ or a delicious roast.
I am so right there with you friend! The heat just makes me tired and bleh. It’s been so hot and humid here – I’m ready for a break!! haha
This green bean salad sounds absolutely amazing – definitely trying this out soon!
Yes. It’s definitely hot here. And whoever convinced everybody to build houses in Colorado with no air conditioning was the WORST. Also, nice salad. I scarred my husband with some terrible quinoa when we were first married, but I might have to make him try this.
What a gorgeous recipe – full of wonderful flavors and ingredients – I think I could happily live of this! I”m such a fan of quinoa. Thanks for visiting my blog and I’m so happy to have found yours!
mary
What a delicious recipe – lovely ingredients and flavors – I could happily live of this!
Mary
This combination of ingredients sounds delightful! And it’s exactly what I love to have in my fridge for weekday lunches! Pinned!
This salad looks fantastic for summer. I love how crisp and fresh those green beans look!
It’s way to hot where I live as well – I so could do with one bowl of this gorgeous summer salad. It looks amazing! xx
This salad looks so wholesome and just delicious! You have so many great flavours going on in there
I am obsessed with quinoa at the moment, i love this concept of taking two ordinary ingredients and turning them into something spectacular with spices and herbs. Beautiful.
Salads that can be eaten at room temperature or even COLD do so much to help during summer heat waves. Love the sound of this! So summer perfect!
What a different and tasty summer salad.
i underestimate green beans alot..i will think of this when i make salad next.
This salad was amazing!!! So after ogling it on Instagram I had to try it, and I’m so glad I did, it’s absolutely perfect for summer! YUM, I’ll definitely be making it again, thanks for a fantastic recipe!
If it helps I need to try it. It was crazy hot today and we both work from our apartment – the last floor 🙂 It was a real summer day over here, real Australian summer day, not an european one, hahaha.
This recipe is right up my alley. I was at the farmers market earlier and bought beautiful green beans. Will be making this over the next day or so.
Looks so appetizing and delicious! I am a fan of quinoa..this is a perfect perfect lunch for me.
That looks so delicious! I love green beans and we have really just started using quinoa, so it’s nice to find recipes for it that look so tasty! Thank you for stopping by my blog the other day…I am thrilled to find yours as well!
Oh, Portland! You guys must have had perfect weather up there–my Oregon friends pine after it all the time (though personally, I still prefer this California semi-heat! No Oregon dreariness for me). Summer salads are the absolute best reason to look forward to the sunshine though. Chilled, please!
I think I am going to make a winter version tonight! Love the addition of the sunflower seeds 🙂
What a fantastic sounding salad! At the moment it’s freezing (well for Australia) so I will gladly take any warm weather-and a bowl of this salad please! 😛
I don’t know if Michigan has for some reason actually been tolerable this year or if I just have greater access/willingness to use air conditioning. But even if it’s not crazy hot, I can see myself craving this green bean salad, especially if chunks of feta are involved!
As a Pacific Northwest Native I can tell you that the dreary days do get old. Today is a misty cloudy day. However, I can totally see your family living in Portland. We thought about moving there a few years ago. My sister in law was living there and we loved to visit.