Mediterranean Lamb & Quinoa Salad

Published 18 March 2020

Mediterranean Lamb & Quinoa Salad with Mint Yoghurt Dressing

Mediterranean lamb salad with caramelised onions, quinoa, feta, pomegranate, and a fresh mint yoghurt dressing is hearty, colourful, and packed with flavour. Tender lamb pairs beautifully with the sweet onions and juicy pomegranate, while quinoa gives the salad plenty of substance and salty feta adds richness. Finished with a cool mint yoghurt dressing, it’s a satisfying lunch or dinner that feels fresh without being remotely insubstantial.

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Yield: 4

Mediterranean Lamb & Quinoa Salad

4.7 Stars (13 Reviews)

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My Mediterranean lamb salad is fresh, colourful and filling, with tender lamb, fluffy quinoa, salty feta, juicy pomegranate and a cool mint yoghurt dressing bringing everything together. I love this kind of salad for lunch or dinner because it feels light but still substantial, with plenty of texture and bold Mediterranean flavour in every bite. It’s a brilliant way to serve lamb when you want something fresher than a roast, especially with all those sweet, salty and creamy contrasts.

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

Lamb

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• 300g lamb, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Salad

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• 250g baby tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced

Caramelised Onions

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• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter

Quinoa

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• 100g Quinoa
• 200ml chicken stock

Dressing

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• 100g natural Greek yoghurt
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 cup mint, fresh
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, fresh

Additional

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• 50g Feta, crumbled
• 50g pomegranate seeds

Instructions

Lamb

1. Add the lamb to a bowl with the olive oil, cumin, oregano, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt flakes. Mix well and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the lamb and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning regularly, until cooked through and lightly charred around the edges.
3. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Salad

1. Add the tomatoes and cucumber to a sieve and toss through the sea salt flakes.
2. Set aside to drain for 1 hour, then discard any liquid.

Caramelised Onions

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over low heat, then add the butter and allow it to melt.
2. Add the onion with a pinch of sea salt flakes and cook over low heat for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until very soft and deeply caramelised.

Quinoa

1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly under cold running water.
2. Bring the chicken stock to the boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, cover and reduce the heat to low.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the stock has been absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat, uncover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Dressing

1. Add the Greek yoghurt, celery salt, mint, lemon juice and parsley to a jug.
2. Blitz with a stick blender until smooth and well combined.

Bringing It Together

1. Add the drained tomatoes and cucumber to a large salad bowl with the quinoa and toss together. Divide between four serving bowls.
2. Toss the caramelised onions through the cooked lamb, then divide between the bowls.
3. Crumble the feta over the salad and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds.
4. Drizzle generously with the yoghurt dressing and serve.

Notes

• The tomatoes and cucumber need the full draining time. Salting them draws out a surprising amount of liquid and stops that moisture collecting at the bottom of the finished salad.
• You can drain the vegetables, marinate the lamb and caramelise the onions at the same time, so although the recipe has several components, much of the preparation overlaps.
• Keep the heat low when caramelising the onions. They should soften and darken gradually rather than frying or catching around the edges.
• Don't rush the onions by turning up the heat. The hour-long cooking time is what gives them their soft texture and deep flavour.
• Rinse the quinoa thoroughly before cooking. This removes its natural coating, which can otherwise give cooked quinoa a slightly bitter flavour.
• Once the quinoa has absorbed the stock, leave it uncovered for 10 minutes. This allows excess steam to escape so it stays fluffy rather than becoming wet or clumpy in the salad.
• Let the quinoa cool slightly before tossing it through the cucumber and tomatoes so the fresh vegetables stay crisp.
• The lamb can be marinated for longer than 30 minutes if you want to prepare it ahead. Keep it covered in the fridge, then bring it out shortly before cooking.
• Mix the caramelised onions through the lamb while they're both still warm. The onions coat the pieces of lamb much more evenly this way.
• The yoghurt dressing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Give it a quick stir before serving.
• Assemble the salad shortly before serving for the best texture, particularly once the dressing has been added.
• Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days, although it's best to keep the dressing separate if you're planning to save portions for later.

What I Cook With

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• 
  Cast Iron Skillet Frying Pan
• 
  Colander

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 465Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 394mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 26g

Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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Why I Love Salad (and Always Have)

Another salad this week, though as simple as my Bacon & Kale salad with blue cheese dressing is, this Mediterranean Lamb Salad with Quinoa is a little more complicated. Now, when I say complicated, I don’t mean difficult. Simply that there are many ingredients that require different ways of preparation – fear not, it’s all incredibly easy no matter how daunting it may appear. I know it might look like a faff at first glance, but once you get going, it’s actually a joyful mess of textures and flavours coming together.

Firstly though, I want to share with you my appreciation of salad! I have been a fan of salads for as long as I can remember. It was always my task as a teen to prepare them for our regular gatherings and family barbecues. I would always spend the time to ensure each salad was perfectly balanced, and my efforts were always appreciated. There was a quiet pride in those moments, especially when someone would ask, “Who made the salad?” and then go back for seconds. Simply pleasures, y’know?

Now, this was back in the 90’s mind you, before the time of food blogs. Back then, my access to new, exciting recipes was mainly limited to cheap magazines or Women’s Weekly cookbooks! However, at the time salads were hardly sexy and these recipe collections rarely offered anything new or interesting. So of course, when I talk about my salads I mean nothing more complicated than an Australian garden salad. Think cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, carrots and celery. Hardly exciting!

From Basic to Brilliant

However these days, thanks to the absolute abundance of recipes online, my salads are anything and everything but boring – I find myself genuinely excited about putting them together. I love pulling inspiration from different cuisines and tweaking flavours to suit whatever I have on hand. That’s what this Mediterranean Lamb Salad with Quinoa is all about. It brings in that rich, savoury lamb with all the vibrance of lemon, herbs, and feta. It’s hearty enough to be dinner but still light enough for a summer afternoon.

These are the kinds of salads I would have killed for in my teens. I imagine myself rocking up to a backyard barbie with this bowl of colour and flavour and wowing everyone. The 90s crowd wouldn’t know what hit them! It’s the sort of meal that looks fancy but feels comforting, like you’ve just taken a stroll through a herb garden in Santorini and ended up at a table filled with good wine and even better company.

And while I know I said it’s a little more complicated than some of my other salad recipes, it’s still very much doable on a weeknight. You just need to time it so the lamb is resting while the quinoa cooks, and the herbs can be chopped while the grill’s heating – multi-tasking at its finest. Plus, it all keeps well in the fridge, so it’s brilliant for meal prep too.

The Joy of Versatility

I ramble when I’m stressed. And truthfully, I’m very stressed with life right now. There’s a lot going on in the background that I can’t really talk about here, and on top of that, I’m combatting what I strongly suspect is Covid-19. My mother-in-law only just returned from living in Spain over the summer, so it’s feeling fairly inevitable. When I don’t want to overthink what’s happening in my life, I ramble. And I think it’s pretty obvious in the recipes where I use a lot of words to say, well, a lot of nothing. This might be one of those times. We’ll see how we go.

It’s strange how writing about salad turns into emotional processing, but here we are. I suppose that’s the beauty of cooking – it lets you channel your energy into something tangible. And for me, writing and cooking have always been connected. When the world feels chaotic, I cling to the rhythm of chopping herbs and the comfort of an aroma filled kitchen. It doesn’t solve anything, but it helps me breathe.

So if this post feels a little wordy, that’s why. I’m not trying to be poetic or deep – I’m just overwhelmed and trying not to spiral. This Mediterranean Lamb Salad with Quinoa might be my dinner, but it’s also my therapy session. And if you’ve ever found yourself talking to a tomato while trying to hold it together, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Frequently asked questions

What cut of lamb works best for this salad?

Boneless lamb leg, rump or loin all work well because they can be diced into small, even pieces and cooked quickly in a frying pan. Avoid very fatty or heavily connective cuts that need long, slow cooking, as they won’t become tender in the relatively short cooking time used here.

Can I make this salad ahead of time?

Most of the components can be prepared ahead, but it’s best to keep them separate until serving. The quinoa, caramelised onions, cooked lamb and yoghurt dressing can all be refrigerated individually, while the drained cucumber and tomatoes should be kept separate from the dressing. Assemble everything shortly before serving so the vegetables stay fresh and the salad doesn’t become watery.

Can I serve the lamb cold instead of warm?

Yes. The salad is especially good with warm lamb and onions against the cooler vegetables and yoghurt dressing, but the lamb can also be cooked ahead and served chilled or at room temperature. If refrigerated, allow it to sit out briefly before serving so the fat softens and the flavour isn’t muted by being fridge-cold.

Ingredient breakdown

Lamb

Diced lamb gives the salad its rich, savoury centre and turns it from a simple side into a substantial meal. Choose a tender cut suitable for quick cooking and keep the pieces reasonably even so they cook at the same rate.

Olive oil, cumin, oregano and lemon juice

These form the simple marinade for the lamb. Olive oil helps coat the meat evenly, cumin adds warmth and earthiness, oregano brings a familiar Mediterranean herb flavour, and lemon juice provides a little acidity to balance the richness of the lamb. The marinade is deliberately simple because there are plenty of other strong flavours throughout the salad.

Tomatoes and cucumber

Tomatoes and cucumber provide the fresh, juicy base of the salad. Salting and draining them first removes excess water while concentrating their flavour, which is particularly important here because the salad also contains quinoa and a yoghurt dressing that would otherwise become diluted.

Red onion

Red onion becomes dramatically sweeter and softer after its slow caramelisation, giving the salad richness without the harsh bite of raw onion. Its sweetness works particularly well with the savoury lamb, salty feta and tart pomegranate.

Butter and olive oil

Using both gives the caramelised onions the best of each fat. Butter adds richness and helps create that deep, savoury flavour, while the olive oil keeps the mixture fluid and helps the onions cook gently over the long caramelising time.

Quinoa

Quinoa gives the salad body and a light, nutty texture without making it overly heavy. Cooking it in chicken stock rather than plain water seasons it throughout and gives it considerably more savoury flavour. Allow it to cool slightly before combining it with the fresh vegetables.

Chicken stock

Chicken stock seasons the quinoa as it cooks and gives the grains a deeper flavour than water alone. Because it reduces almost completely into the quinoa, choose a stock you enjoy and be mindful of its saltiness when seasoning the rest of the salad.

Greek yoghurt

Greek yoghurt forms the creamy base of the dressing and brings a fresh tang that cuts through the lamb, caramelised onion and feta. A thick natural Greek yoghurt works best because it gives the dressing body without needing extra oil or thickeners.

Mint and flat-leaf parsley

Mint gives the dressing freshness that works especially well with lamb, while parsley adds a greener, more savoury herb flavour. Blending them directly into the yoghurt distributes their flavour throughout the dressing rather than leaving large pieces of herb.

Celery salt and lemon juice

Celery salt adds seasoning with a slightly savoury, aromatic edge, while lemon juice sharpens the yoghurt and keeps the dressing tasting fresh. Only small amounts are needed because the dressing is designed to complement rather than overpower the other components.

Feta

Feta adds creamy texture, saltiness and a little tang. Crumbling it over the salad rather than stirring it through keeps distinct pockets of cheese throughout each bowl and prevents it disappearing into the quinoa and dressing.

Pomegranate seeds

Pomegranate seeds add sweetness, acidity and little bursts of juicy texture. They also balance the richer elements of the salad particularly well, especially the lamb, caramelised onion and feta.

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