This idea slapped me in the face yesterday when I was trying to figure out lunch. The Husband went for his disgusting frozen Mac & Cheese --seriously, that stuff is GROSS. I can't even handle the smell-- and the baby had leftover black beans, grebe beans, Triscuits, cheese and watermelon. That left me to my own devices.
LOVE this situation!
I've been wanting to use some of the fresh basil I got from the farm, but how?
Then I spied a pint of grape tomatoes. Oh! and I bought cheese sticks for the baby.
*ding* *ding* *ding*
Caprese salad!
But how can I make it a meal?
*ding* *ding* *ding*
Quinoa!
And that, my friends, is how this was born…
...and it was delicious! Totally hit the spot! Here's what I did...
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Quinoa (43g)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- ½ tablespoon honey (10g)
- pinch of salt
- 1 Mozzarella cheese stick (~¾ of an oz)
- ~30 basil leaves
- ~15 grape tomatoes halved
Instructions
Put the quinoa, water, vinegar, honey and salt in a small pot. Bring to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.
While the quinoa is cooking prep the other ingredients. Chop the basil, halve the tomatoes and cut the cheese.
In about 20 minutes the quinoa should be finished. Scoop it into a bowl. It will be sticky from the honey.
Top with the rest of the ingredients.
Toss everything together.
Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Sweet Mozzarella Caprese Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Quinoa 43g
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- ½ tablespoon honey 10g
- pinch of salt
- 1 Mozzarella cheese stick ~¾ of an oz
- ~30 basil leaves
- ~15 grape tomatoes halved
Instructions
- Put the quinoa, water, vinegar, honey and salt in a small pot. Bring to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.¼ cup Quinoa, ½ cup water, 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar, ½ tablespoon honey, pinch of salt
- While the quinoa is cooking prep the other ingredients. Chop the basil, halve the tomatoes and cut the cheese.~30 basil leaves, ~15 grape tomatoes halved, 1 Mozzarella cheese stick
- In about 20 minutes the quinoa should be finished. Scoop it into a bowl. It will be sticky from the honey.
- Top with the rest of the ingredients.
- Toss everything together.
Andrea
Just made this for lunch and it was DELICIOUS! Didn't have fresh basil but i did add some chopped up spinach to the salad for some greenery and it worked really well. Definitely going to make this again! Thanks for the recipe.
Cassandra Bishop
Such a great idea!! And I just bought all the ingredients for a caprese sandwich but already got bored with that. Thanks for the recipe!
roni
Oh good catch! It's 1 - 2 ratio for quinoa! My bad. I'm sorry. 🙁
Glad you liked the flavors though!
Chelsea
I made this tonight for dinner, it was really good but there were some problems. It ran out of liquid to absorb before it was properly cooked. I had to add a lot more water so it could cook longer. Once that water was gone it was pretty much done (not quite) but I ate it anyway. Why did I need to add so much extra water? Just wondering because I really liked the flavour. Thanks Roni, I love your website by the way and get my breakfast recipes off here every morning!
Rene
Hi Roni,
This was great! I didn't have qunioa but I did have the microwave Succss Rice - Multigrain Medley which is made up of Brown Rice, Wheat, Quinoa, Rye, Barley, Oats. I just heated it in the microwave and added the other ingredients to it. It was fast and great! Thanks for all the recipes. Have a great day!
Mindy
This looks delish! Got all the ingredients, I am going to give it a shot! Oh, and I grow basil and was always sad when I couldn't eat it all. I was reading a cookbook the other day and it showed the recipe for pesto and I realized (duh!) I could use my basil for that! Thought I would share since it's so heartbreaking not to use the delicious and fresh greens.
Becky
YEAH!!! Can't wait to try it! I have a whole Costco bag of Quinoa staring at me from the pantry!
Going to make this weekend!!!
THanks!
Melissa
Dan likes gross box mac and cheese too.
He loves caprese but hates quinoa, maybe I could make this and hopefully he'll change his mind, lol!
Kathy
Brillant! Ps. He's growing like a weed & is so precious.
Sarah @ Semi-Sweet
This sounds great . . . and I have fresh basil from my farm share and a ball of fresh mozz. in the fridge (60 cal./ounce, not too bad if you watch it). Good idea!
joy Lupo
I don't like quinoa, so I'm going to try this with Farro! I bet it will be yummy.
Casey Davis
Loving that I just found your website. Thanks for sharing so much! I will be visiting often!!! 🙂
Stephanie
This looks delish! My lunch today is quinoa with spinach, tomato and feta. I put in a tupperware with spinach on bottom, top with quinoa and feta, warm in micro for a minute. The warm quinoa slightly wilts the spinach and the feta gets creamy and then I stir in chunks of fresh tomato. I also love doing the same with beets and subbing feta for goat cheese. YUM!
Kim @Living, Laughing & Losing
Bookmarking this! Looks delicious! 🙂