I’ve mentioned grilling as a no-fuss way to cook up zucchini. Here’s a great recipe for incorporating grilled zucchini into a delicious quinoa salad!

First of all, I just can’t get over the fact that quinoa goes from this:

To this:

Wacky!

Anyway, here are the ingredients for the salad:

Dressing:
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup packed basil
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Salad:
1 cup red or white quinoa, uncooked
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 zucchini, cut into spears and seeded
1 medium tomato, cut into bit-sized pieces
4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Fresh basil, for garnish

Blend the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor.

Combine quinoa, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 2 cups of water in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

Drizzle olive oil onto the zucchini spears and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until tender. Allow to cool, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

Toss the quinoa with enough dressing to coat it. Top the quinoa with grilled zucchini, tomato, hard-boiled eggs, and feta cheese. Garnish with fresh basil. Serves 4.

You can toss grilled zucchini into any type of salad, using couscous or bulgar wheat instead of quinoa, or skip the grains all together and just make a grilled chopped salad. Grill up other vegetables alongside the zucchini, like bell peppers, onions, or eggplant, whip up a quick vinaigrette, and you’re done! Makes for a quick and delicious summer side dish. Enjoy!