This recipe is DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS! It is super healthy, packed with lots of vitamins, fibre and protein, plus it is extremely tasty. It’s perfect for a summer dinner or lunch, or even for a light main course at a dinner party. The summer salad brings a creamy salty-ness from the feta cheese, a sweet fresh-ness from the juicy tomatoes, a fragrant kick from the oregano, and a nutty taste from the lovely protein packed quinoa grain!

So lets get started………

Wash your quinoa with cold water a few times to get rid of the bitterness, and then place in a pan on the stove. Add 400ml of water to the pan and season with salt, pepper and a tsp of fresh or dried oregano. Bring the pan to the boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for approximately for 15-17 minutes, until the quinoa is fluffy and looks cooked all the way through. Drain the quinoa in a sieve to make sure that you get rid of all the water, and then let it cool down in the fridge in a large bowl whilst you prepare the rest of the food.

 

Slice the courgette into 3-4mm thick discs, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan to a medium high heat, drizzle or spray oil of your choice to the pan and add the courgette discs. Pan fry on each side for 5 minutes or until the courgette is nicely brown and soft. When you have 1 minute of cooking left, add a glove of freshly crushed garlic to the pan, and mix well.

Once cooked, put the courgettes on a plate to cool. Prepare the tomatoes by slicing them into quarters and then add then to the courgette plate, and place in the fridge to keep them chilled. Finely chop the large handful of fresh oregano leaves (if you can’t find them it would still work with a little of fresh basil leaves and 2 tbsp of dried oregano- but fresh oregano is better because it is much more fragrant which works better with the flavours of the dish). ). Add the chopped herbs, fresh tomatoes and garlic courgettes to the quinoa in a large bowl, and mix well to make the summer salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mix the vinegar, seasoning and oil together to make the dressing, and then add half of it to the large bowl of quinoa salad and mix well.

Once it is all mixed, add the salad to a nice serving bowl, top with the feta cheese crumbled on top, add a few extra herb leaves, some salt and pepper seasoning, and the rest of the dressing on top.

Heat up a frying pan to a high temperature, add 1 tsp of butter (or oil if your dairy free, or none if you are trying to be extra healthy of course!), and place the sea bass fillets skin-side down. Cook for around 3-4 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy, add the crushed garlic to the flesh side of the fish and flip over; continue to cook the fish flesh-side down for 1 more minute. Remove the fish from the heat, season, and serve on a plate with a good serving of the delicious quinoa and feta summery salad. (If you like….. add some more fresh herbs to the top of the dish when serving, and a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil. I also sometimes like to add a handful of fresh rocket salad leaves to the size of the dish for that extra peppery taste).

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Fish and Salad

80g quinoa (40g per person)

1 medium courgette

200g baby tomatoes

A handful of fresh oregano leaves

1 tsp of garlic pepper (or add an extra garlic clove)

2 large sea bass fillets

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp of rapeseed/olive/coconut oil or butter for frying

Salt and pepper for seasoning

100-150g feta cheese (depends if you prefer lots of cheese or a little)

 

Dressing

2 tbsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

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 Love Kitchen Olivia xx

 

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