For those days (or nights) when you want to eat healthy, but you don't want to cook. This savory bowl starts with ready-prepared quinoa and canned tuna. Toss together, then top with tangy fresh tomatoes, salty kalamata olives and cool cucumber. A quick drizzle of a simple, DIY fresh basil & mint vinaigrette, and you'll be enjoying a no-cook dinner in 10 minutes flat.
I've been obsessed with Med flavors lately. Roasted Red Peppers in pasta sauces. Greek pitas in place of tacos. On Superbowl weekend, I hit the store to buy cucumbers and discovered they were sold out (like whaaa? completely sold out of cucumbers?) and the boyfriend said "looks like everyone else is craving Greek, too". And I was like "cry." Because if there aren't kalamata olives in the cupboard and a cucumber in the fridge, ready for some quick and dirty DIY tzatziki, I don't even know who I am anymore.
So, of course, when the lunchtime hangry hit the other day, and I hadn't been grocery shopping in 67 hours, I stood in the kitchen, staring down a single can of tuna, a packet of ready-made quinoa and a fridge full of Greek fixin's.
Which meant: GREEK TUNA & QUINOA BOWL.
But you knew that, because you read the title already.
Confessional time: I don't much love tuna. Like, I will avoid it at all costs. (Which is why there was a can sitting in the empty cupboards. It's literally the.last.thing I will eat).
BUT...
This bowl totally saved tuna for me.
Because it's tossed with tomatoes. And cucumbers. And those insanely lovely kalamatas. Suddenly the fish in the bowl was 472% less fishy.
And drizzled with this insanely easy, wickedly delicious fresh basil and mint vinaigrette, the fish was 293477% more delicious.
And that is how, though tuna is my least favorite thing ever, this bowl ended up sitting here for you on this here blog. Because it's damndelicious. You can believe it, because this tuna-eschewing, Greek-loving girl told you so.
Greek Tuna Quinoa Bowl with Basil-Parsley Vinaigrette
Serves 2 | 10 mins
- 1 (250 g) Mothergrain Organic Fairtrade Express Quinoa (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 can albacore, drained
- 4 small tomatoes, wedged
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- 2 leaves fresh basil
- small sprig fresh mint
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp white balsamic
- 1 garlic clove
- salt and pepper to taste
Toss together quinoa and albacore. Spoon into bowls, top with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, walnuts, feta, and any other add-ons you desire (I had capers, peppers and dolma in the house, so tossed those in. But anything from the olive bar will do. Or omit, that's okay, too).
In a mini food processor, puree basil, mint, olive oil, balsamic and garlic together. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over bowl. And enjoy!