Right after my son was born, a WONDERFUL friend brought over this amazing salad. I had in on repeat the first month I was home on maternity leave and sadly forgot about it until another WONDERFUL friend reminded me about it a few weeks ago.

This dish is fantastic because there are lots of colorful vegetables, protein from Quinoa and Chickpeas (and chicken if you so choose to add) and has an incredible yet very simple dressing. Plus, it eats like a meal, and is perfect for lunch or dinner if you are vegan or vegetarian and do not want to include an animal protein.

If you’ve been following River City Sisters for a while now, you’ll likely have noticed we like to use olive oils and vinegars from Evoolution in a lot of our recipes. This for a number of reasons: primarily because flavored oil and vinegar can be used in SO many ways, we love to support local businesses, and adding a different flavor is an excellent and easy way to spice up a tried and true recipe. Some salad dressings however, like this, one have enough flavors being added elsewhere, so a high quality unflavored Olive Oil is ideal. How perfect when we heard that Evoolution had just launched their newest collection of Olive Oil Varietals- some of the highest quality unflavored Olive Oils available in the world! We couldn’t wait to check these out, and after having  the opportunity to taste test all the latest, decided the Arbosana would be perfect for this recipe!

If you want to check out the latest and greatest at Evoolution, pop in at any time and you can sample any oil or vinegar you like, FOR FREE! Lets just say this is my sons FAVORITE place to visit in the mall!

Plus.. scroll to the bottom for an exciting GIVEAWAY!

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 cup Quinoa, cooked + Cooled
• 1/2 Beets (red or golden), cooked, cooled and cut
• 1/2 Cup Carrots, shredded
• 1/2 Cup Chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/4 cup Red Onion, sliced
• 1 Cup Bibb Lettuce (could sub romaine, I’m just currently obsessed with Bibb)
• 1 1/2 Cups Spring Mix (or Mixed greens)
• 1/8 Cup Feta (or more, to taste)

Dressing

• 2 Tbsp Evoolution Arbosana Varietal Olive Oil
• 4 Tbsp Evoolution Neapolitan Herb Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Orange Juice from Concentrate
• Salt + Pepper to taste

Method

1.  In a large mixing bowl, Combine all salad ingredients except for feta
2. In a small mixing bowl whisk together dressing ingredients
3. Add Feta and dressing just prior to serving!

Enjoy!

Now for the SUPER exciting part! The amazing team at Evoolution is giving one follower a set of 6 Mini Oils+ Vinegars! We have picked some of our absolute favorites you are in for a real treat! We’ve included the new Arbosana Varietal Olive Oil from this recipe, the epic White Truffle Olive Oil (perfect for popcorn!) as well as four MUST HAVE flavored Vinegars: Coconut, Mango, Peach and Cranberry Apple (keep your eyes on our Instagram story to see how we use these!)

How to Enter:

1. Head over to our Instagram  and Follow us @rivercitysisters
2. Tag a Foodie Friend on our instagram post and have them like us too!
3. For an extra entry, Follow us on Pinterest and comment on the insta photo letting us know you’ve done this!

Contest will close this FRIDAY, March 24th, at Noon, MST!

Good Luck!