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 flavoured oil and vinegar can be used in SO many ways, we love to support local businesses, and adding a different flavour is an excellent and easy way to spice up a tried and true recipe. Some salad dressings however, like this, one have enough flavours being added elsewhere, so a high quality unflavoured 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 unflavoured 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!

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!