Healthy Lunch Salad: Quinoa Stuffed Tomato with Feta and Yogurt Dressing

 Dressing Ingredients:
-3 oz Chobani Plain 0% Fat Greek Yogurt
-1 TB Olive Oil
-1/2 TB basil
-1/4 tsp crushed rosemary
-1/4 tsp garlic
-Pinch of salt

Other Ingredients:
-1 tomato, cored
-1/2 C quinoa, cooked as directed
-1/4 C or so crumbled feta (I used Fat Free from Trader Joe's)
-Optional slices of olive
-Salt and pepper

Get the quinoa cooking according to directions.  Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.  Core the tomato, I did this by cutting the core out and then using a spoon to scoop some extra insides out.  I made a few slits about 1/3 of the way down so that I could really stuff it with quinoa. 

When the quinoa is finished, let it cool for a moment and then mix with the sauce.  You could let it cool all the way, I just went ahead and put it all in hot.  Putting it in hot will thin out the sauce a little but to me that was not a big deal.

 I put a base of the sauced quinoa in the bowl I will use for lunch tomorrow so that my tomato would not tip over, and also so that if I ended up having more tomato than stuffing I had a little extra.

I tossed a tiny bit of feta around the edges of this. Add a little salt and pepper to this base.

Next I sat the tomato on the base and mushed it down to steady it.  I scooped quinoa in the tomato and packed it down in there.

Add a little salt, you could add a teeny tiny amount every couple of quinoa scoops if you prefer.

Top with feta and slices of olives, and a little bit of pepper.  I am going to chill mine overnight and take it for lunch in the morning. 


I was really scrambling for something super healthy to eat tomorrow, as I did not pick up fruit for fruit salsa.  Pasta salad just did not sound good, and I was a little limited on vegetarian ideas.

I have selective vegetarian tendencies, which pretty much means that after a weekend of eating a ton of restaurant foods or things I don't normally eat, I go vegetarian for a day or so to balance it all back out.

I wanted something protein packed, but had not picked up any more Chobani Flips, my absolute favorite yogurt.  When I saw online that quinoa was often used in cold salads, I was sold.  I just threw together flavors that I love.

Quinoa has a really cool texture, it is definitely more substantial than rice, which is just fine by me.

Happy crafting!