Grilled zucchini salad with quinoa and feta is a great way to use up that zucchini glut. An easy recipe to make ahead, the grilled zucchini adds a delicious smoky element to the salad, and leftovers are great for the lunchbox.
TOTAL TIME INVESTMENT: 40 MINUTES
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We didn’t plant any zucchini plants this year. Mr Grumpy just didn’t get around to it. Yet we had four plants spring up in the vegetable patch despite our lack of planning. If you have never grown zucchini before, let me tell you, four plants is a lot!
Every year it is the same story. Planting zucchini seems like a great idea …. until they start producing. Then you will find me thrusting a zucchini into the hands of anybody that dares cross our threshold. And it is also the reason that you will find a large number of zucchini recipes on this site. Whether you are craving cake, pasta or even a simple quiche, I have you covered. This grilled zucchini salad recipe is just the latest in my efforts to deal with the continuous supply.
I love salads that have grains or beans as the base. They are easy to prepare ahead, and hold up well in the fridge, making them ideal for lunchboxes or even simply getting ahead for picnics or family gatherings. I have put together a whole cheatsheet on the tips and tricks I use to get ahead with my meal prep for main meal salads. The cheatsheet is in my free Resource Library. If you would like your very own copy simply click the link below, or request the password for the Resource Library at the end of this post.
Grilling the zucchini adds a lovely smoky element to this zucchini salad. All you need to do is slice the zucchini about 5mm (1/4″) thick, toss them lightly in olive oil and then grill the slices in a single layer over a medium high heat. The heat level is important here: it needs to be high enough to cook the vegetables, but not so hot that the outside chars before the inside cooks.
The zucchini can also be grilled indoors on a grill pan, or if it not too hot to turn on the oven, just cut the zucchini into fatter chunks and roast it in the oven instead.
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Ingredient Substitutions For This Easy Grilled Zucchini Salad Recipe
It’s a simple zucchini salad recipe, but you would be mistaken for thinking that it was not ripe for substitutions. I always advocate using what you have on hand rather than buying ingredients for just one recipe, so try:
- Replacing the quinoa with cous cous, cracked wheat (bulgur), brown rice or even cooked barley. Personally I like to use quinoa as a base for main meal salads. It is easy to cook, high in protein and is gluten-free, making it perfect for serving to the whole family if you are dealing with various dietary issues. However some people just don’t like quinoa (I know!) so use your favorite grain instead.
- Try a fresh goats cheese in place of the feta.
- Switch some (or all) of the parsley with shredded basil or coriander (cilantro) leaves.
- And whilst this is a zucchini salad recipe, the zucchini can be replaced with any other roasted or grilled vegetable you like. Think squash, sweet potato, beetroot or carrots for starters.
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How To Cook Quinoa For Salad
For salad, I prefer to cook quinoa using the absorption method. I find that this prevents the quinoa from going gluggy. I cook my quinoa using the following method:
- Thoroughly rinse 1 cup of quinoa and allow to drain well. It is important to rinse the quinoa prior to cooking as the grains are coated with saponin, which makes the quinoa taste bitter. A good wash removes this saponin coating.
- Tip the rinsed quinoa into a saucepan, and add 2 cups of water or stock.
- Place the lid on the saucepan and place the pot over a high heat.
- The minute you see steam escaping from the lid, reduce the heat to low. I use a heat diffuser at this point.
- Cook the quinoa for 20 minutes, starting the timer from the point you reduced the heat.
- At the end of the 20 minutes, remove the lid and tip the pot gently to one side. If you can still see free water in the pot, put it back on the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- The quinoa is ready when there is no more water in the pot.
- Remove the lid from the pot, and place a sheet of paper towel over the saucepan.
- Replace the lid, and allow the quinoa to sit until required.
Use the quinoa immediately, store it in the fridge for up to three days, or freeze quinoa for up to three months.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grilled Zucchini Salad Recipe
Can you eat zucchini seeds?
You can eat the whole zucchini; skin, flesh and seeds. The exception to this occurs when the zucchini grows too large (i.e. becomes a marrow) and the seeds become quite tough. They are still edible at this point, but are chewy and unpalatable.
Do you need to peel zucchini?
The skin of the zucchini is edible, so does not need to be peeled before use.
Can you slice zucchini ahead of time?
The zucchini can be sliced the day before required. Store the zucchini slices in an airtight container in the fridge until required.
What to Serve With grilled zucchini salad?
In a word, anything! This zucchini salad is delicious served alongside a simple piece of fish or quick roast chicken, or any other grilled protein. Or just serve it on it’s own for a delicious vegetarian main meal salad.
Tips & Tricks For A Great Grilled Zucchini Salad
I leave you with a few tips that will help you make this the best zucchini salad recipe you have ever tasted:
- White, black and red quinoa are all readily available in the shops, and all will work perfectly in this grilled zucchini salad. I like to buy equal quantities of each colour, and then mix them together to make a multi-coloured mix. However, white quinoa does has the mildest flavour of all the colours, so if yo have fussy kids or avowed quinoa haters in your household then just use the white quinoa.
- If you wish to make this quinoa salad vegan, then just omit the cheese and add additional grilled zucchini.
- Grill the zucchini slices and cook the quinoa in advance, then assemble the salad just before serving. Pick up all the tips for storing cooked ingredients prepared in advance from my free cheatsheet. Don’t forget to request the password to my Resource Library below so you can download your copy.
- Assembled, this grilled zucchini salad will keep well for up to three days in the fridge.
- Salad leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day, and the zucchini salad also travels well in lunchboxes.
Enjoy!
One year ago: Quick & Easy Flatbread Pizza Recipe
Two years ago: Vegan Mini Pavlovas
Three years ago: Coconut Macadamia Granola
Made this recipe? Tell me how it went in the comments below.
And if you loved it, please don’t forget to rate it.
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Quinoa, Feta & Grilled Zucchini Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
For the Salad
- 180 g (1 cup) quinoa uncooked
- 500 g ( 1 lb) zucchini approximately*
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
- 175 g (1 cup) green peas cooked
- 3 spring onions sliced
- 60 g (1/2 cup) parsley chopped
- 200 g (1 1/3 cup) feta crumbled
Instructions
Make the Dressing
- Place the dressing ingredients into a glass jar.
- Shake the jar to emulsify the ingredients.
- Taste the dressing. It should taste strongly of lemon juice. This taste will be tempered when it is added to the salad, so add more lemon juice if required.
- Adjust the salt & pepper if required, and set the dressing aside.
Prepare the Salad Ingredients
- Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions. Set aside to cool.
- Pre-heat your BBQ grill plate.*
- Slice the zucchini into 5mm (1/4″) slices and place in a large bowl.
- Drizzle the zucchini lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat well in the olive oil.
- Grill the slices for approximately 5 minutes each side, or until the vegetables have softened and dark grill marks are visible on each side.
Assemble the Salad
- Tip the quinoa into a large bowl. Add the cooked peas, grilled zucchini, spring onions and parsley.
- Toss the ingredients together gently to combine
- Pour sufficient dressing over the salad to moisten the quinoa. You may not need all of the dressing, so stir lightly as you drizzle it in.
- Scatter the feta over the salad, stir gently again to combine.
- Serve immediately, or set aside until required.
Notes
- * The zucchini can also be cooked on a grill plate inside, or cut the zucchini into larger chunks and roast them at 180C for about 30 minutes.
- To make this salad vegan, omit the cheese and add additional grilled zucchini.
- Grill the zucchini slices and cook the quinoa in advance, then assemble the salad just before serving.
- Assembled, this zucchini salad will keep well for up to three days in the fridge.
- Salad leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day, and the zucchini salad also travels well in lunchboxes.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in 2015. It was updated on 10th January 2018 to add nutritional information, information on cooking quinoa and ingredient substitutions. It was updated again on 20th February 2019 to add FAQ’s and to improve the readability of the text. Some minor text changes were made on 20th May 2019.
Made it today, my family loved it! I followed the recipe except for the addition of Turmeric powder with salt, pepper and oil before roasting Zucchini and 2 cloves of minced garlic to the dressing. Yum!
I love the sound of your additions Sunita. And I am so glad your family loved it. Thanks for letting me know.