Quinoa, Grape and Nectarine Salad

This weekend we went away with the family to celebrate my Father in Law's 60th birthday. My job was to bring a salad to eat at a BBQ lunch.

Not knowing exactly what cooking facilities I'd have available and wanting something that I could easily transport all the bits and pieces, I thought I'd look for a sturdy sort of salad. As I happened to be flicking through the latest Coles catalogue, I came across this recipe.

In true eat quaff laugh form, I modified it a little bit to suit my tastes, but it turned out to be an absolute winner! Everyone loved it and there was only a small bit left over, which is always a good sign.

I cooked the quinoa before we left home and just took it away with us in a container. The grapes I cooked in the morning and left to cool in the fridge, so that they wouldn't make the rest of the salad soggy. I didn't use up all the dressing on my salad, but you could use it all if you like a lot of dressing. Otherwise, keep it in the fridge for another time.

This was a great BBQ salad, but would be perfect to take anywhere you need to bring a share plate. The flavours were very summery, so if you're going to make it, you'll need to do it soon while nectarines are still in season. The white nectarine gave it a beautiful floral sweetness. Yellow nectarines would probably be quite nice too, but try to hunt out the white ones if you can.

To make this salad into a bit more of a meal, toss through some cooked chicken or flaked salmon for a protein hit.

Delicious!

Quinoa, Grape And Nectarine Salad

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup quinoa

3 cups red grapes, removed from stems

1/4 cup marsala

4 spring onions, washed and root end removed, thinly sliced white and inner green part

100g rocket

2 white nectarines, seeds removed and thinly sliced

80g Danish feta, chopped

1/4 cup toasted pinenuts

1/4 cup toasted macadamia nuts, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine oil and vinegar in a jar and season to taste. This is your dressing.

Bring a medium sized saucepan of water to the boil. Add quinoa and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it is cooked. Remove from the heat and drain well. Set aside to cool.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the grapes and toss for about 3 minutes, or until they start to soften.

Add the marsala to the hot pan and toss around to coat the grapes. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the marsala has evaporated, but the mixture isn't too dry. Tip the grapes into a bowl and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, spring onions, rocket, grapes, feta, pinenuts and macadamias. Toss through half the dressing.

Add the nectarines and fold through carefully so they don't break up.

Season to taste and add a little bit more dressing if you think it needs it.

Enjoy!