This Summer Grain Salad is the perfect salad to bring to a picnic, or to meal prep for lunches during the week! It’s filled with quinoa, farro, radishes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, corn, green beans, bell pepper, feta, and a bunch of fresh herbs! The salad gets tossed in a white wine lemon vinaigrette and it’s incredibly fresh, texture-filled, and light!
I’m sharing another summer salad today because I just can’t get enough of them! I love a good grain salad with tons of crunchy veggies, lots of fresh herbs, and a really good dressing. This one is FILLED with all of the veggies, three different herbs, and the most simple and delicious white wine lemon vinaigrette. It’s insanely satisfying from all of the grains and veggies, and texturally satisfying from all of the crunch – which you know I’m a sucker for!
I’m usually a fan of raw and roasted veggies in my salads, but for something like a refreshing grain salad, I love raw, crunchy veggies only. And that’s exactly what we’ve got here! The only veggie that’s semi-cooked are the green beans, and those are just blanched for not even a minute to make them super bright green and just a little more tender!
For the rest of our veggies, I filled this salad with:
- cucumber
- radishes
- cherry tomatoes
- red onion
- corn
- and bell pepper!
Feel free to use this as a guide – you can certainly sub whatever veggies you have on hand, or make it as-is! I personally LOVED this combo. Or you can add even more!
There can never be too many veggies in my book.
It’s so colorful too! This is exactly the kind of meal I crave during the summer. It’s also really great to add protein to, to make it even more of a complete meal! That being said, it’s so satisfying on it’s own.
And the best part is, it keeps really well in the fridge for a few days! Lunches like these, that I can just grab out of the fridge during the work week, are exactly what I like to prep and have on hand! My brother even said that he liked it more after it had sat in the fridge for a bit, because the flavors really married!
As for the grains, you can really get customizable here too.
I love the combination of farro and quinoa, but you could use barley, brown rice, lentils, bulgur, or whatever you love! These are the two grains I keep on hand most often, especially the quick cooking farro from Trader Joe’s! I also always have a gigantic Costco-sized bag of quinoa in my pantry. And they just go really well together!
What I also love about this salad, is that it’s a lot more veg-heavy than grain-heavy. I’ve had grain salads before that were just like eating a big bowl of grains and just a few veggies sprinkled in here and there – this is not that kind of salad. It’s more “all the veggies and a little bit of grains.” Which I prefer, and doesn’t leave me as weighed-down feeling, you know?
The dressing is so simple and easy peasy. No food processor or blender required – just a bowl and a whisk! This is a classic dressing combination I make often, except for this salad, I added a little more olive oil than I would for a green salad. I find that grain salads need a little more oil. That being said, make sure you use a really good quality extra virgin olive oil here. It makes all the difference!
It’s a simple mixture of white wine vinegar, lemon, shallot, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil! Really delicious and super easy.
This is also the perfect summer cookout salad, because there’s no mayo!
Plus, it holds up really well. I brought it to a 4th of July cookout and it was a huge hit!
If you are bringing it to a party, you can toss everything together, and just leave the dressing and herbs for the last minute. hat way the herbs stay super bright green!
Another thing I love about this, is the raw corn. As much as I love grilled corn, I might love raw corn even more. It’s so crunchy and sweet and just delicious! And I don’t think it’s used nearly enough. There’s nothing like a fresh corn salad in the summer. SO GOOD.
It’s almost too pretty to eat.
Summer Grain Salad
This Summer Grain Salad is the perfect salad to bring to a picnic, or to meal prep for lunches during the week! It's filled with quinoa, farro, radishes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, corn, green beans, bell pepper, feta, and a bunch of fresh herbs! The salad gets tossed in a white wine lemon vinaigrette and it's incredibly fresh, texture-filled, and light!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups cooked farro
- 3-4 radishes, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3/4 cup diced cucumber
- 3/4 cup diced yellow bell pepper
- 5 ounces green beans (about 1/3 lb.), cut into 1'' pieces
- 2 ears corn, cut off the cob
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus extra for serving
- 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- salt and pepper
For the vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Place your cooked grains in a large bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the green beans. Add a couple pinches of salt. Once boiling, add the green beans and blanch for 30 seconds - 1 minute, or until they turn bright green. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. Let cool.
Add radishes, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, green beans, corn, and red onion to the grains, along with a couple big pinches of salt and freshly cracked black pepper and stir to combine. Add the feta and the vinaigrette and stir to combine. Add the fresh herbs and stir once more. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve with extra basil leaves.
Recipe Notes
*This salad keeps great in the fridge for 3-4 days!
This summer grain salad was such a hit in our family for dinner. We had chicken breast slices to accompany. We love salads of all kinds, and this was a fun way to showcase all the spring colors.
Will make some roll ups with rice paper for lunch.
You know it is going to be a hit when the “garbage bowl peelings from the veggies look pretty, too.
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit! Thank you so much, Sharon! 🙂