Tuna and Quinoa Fattoush

Last Tuesday when Mum and Dad came for tea, I wanted to do some sort of nice hearty salad for dinner. The weather here has been warming up a fair bit lately, plus I knew we had a whopper of a cake for dessert as part of the week long birthday festivities for Mr B, so a light dinner was definitely in order.

I have to be careful serving salad up for dinner with Mr B because if I directly use the word salad in relation to what we are having for dinner, he will have talked himself into believing I'm dishing up a bowl of lettuce and it won't matter what I actually serve up, he will still leave the table hungry....plus he will sing 'You don't win friends with salad' from the Simpsons all night....

I have been eyeing this particular recipe off for awhile and, with the addition of the tuna, I think it makes a lovely hearty meal that is quite satisfying and doesn't leave you feeling like you've just eaten a bowl of lettuce.

Tuna and Quinoa Fattoush

You will need:

2 rounds of pita bread
 ¾ cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbspns balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbspns olive oil
1 tspn sumac
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 lebanese cucumber, thickly sliced
100g feta cheese crumbled (we used 100g of our homemade Farmhouse Cheddar so you could use a sharp crumbly soft cheddar as well)
2 x 185g tuna chunks in springwater, drained
Optional - 4 hard boiled eggs

Preheat oven to hot, 200°C.

In a small bowl, combine onion and vinegar. Set aside 15 minutes.

Tear pita bread into small pieces and place on a baking tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine quinoa with water. Bring to the boil on high. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 10-12 minutes, until tender. Cool 10 minutes.

Combine lemon juice, oil and sumac in a screw-top jar. Season to taste. Shake well. The jar is definitely the go because I tried doing it in a bowl and just ended up with sumac stuck all around the sides and the bottom and a nice pool of lemon and oil in the middle!

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, feta, onion, tomato, cucumber, tuna, pita and half of the dressing. Toss well and drizzle with remaining dressing. Top with sliced hard boiled eggs if you want some added protein!

Next time I think I would add some sliced up avocado as well - but that could just be because I'm going through an avocado phase at the moment and adding it to EVERYTHING!!!

Enjoy!!

Mrs B xx