Farmer's Market Skillet puts fresh farmer's market finds to good use in a creamy, wholesome skillet.
I’m creating a summer’s worth of Farmer’s Market friendly recipes to keep on hand after coming home with your Farmer’s Market haul.
The first recipe in the collection is Farmer’s Market Skillet!
This protein-packed, quinoa-based dish features in-season, local produce including zucchini, sweet corn, and tomatoes, stirred together with melty feta cheese and herby, fresh basil. Plus it’s made in just one skillet!
I use what’s available to me here locally in the Midwest, but use whatever produce you’ve got available in your area to make this a Farmer’s Market friendly meal wherever you live.
Start the Farmer’s Market Skillet by cooking 1 cup quinoa in 1-3/4 cups chicken broth. You could make this dish completely vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead.
Cook the quinoa until the broth is absorbed, then fluff it with a fork, and let it cool slightly.
While the quinoa’s simmering, whip up the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette for the skillet. It adds the best light, bright flavor to the dish!
Honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper swirl together to create the most magnificent flavor combo. I just love it!
If you don’t feel like going to the trouble of making homemade dressing, a good olive-oil based Italian dressing would be divine as well.
Next heat 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet then add 2 cloves minced garlic and saute until golden brown, about 30 seconds.
Next, add in the veggies!
Like I said, my Farmer’s Market has a plethora of sweet corn, zucchini, and green onions, but you can use whatever is in season and available locally to you. That’s the whole point!
Add the veggies to the skillet, season liberally with salt and pepper, then saute until they’re crisp-tender, 4-5 minutes.
Next, add in the cooked and slightly cooled quinoa, then drizzle in half the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette and let that cook for about another minute.
I love the sweet-tart flavor contrast of raw lemon juice vs cooked lemon juice, so I add half now, then the other half when the skillet is off the heat.
Now add 1 chopped tomato,
(another classic Farmer’s Market find!)
and 1/2 cup feta cheese.
Finish up with 2 Tablespoons chopped basil then give everything a good stir, taste and add more salta and pepper if you need to.
Let the skillet cool for about 10 minutes, then dig on in!
Fresh and ultra flavorful! The crispy, chewy, poppy textures are too fun, while the sweet, herby, tangy flavors are totally mouthwatering.
I include a mandatory 10 minute resting period before eating this skillet, simply because it tastes so much better when it’s not piping hot. You can really pick out each individual ingredient when it’s come down a bit in temp. Enjoy enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- 2 ears sweet corn, kernels cut off the cob, ~1-1/2 cups
- 2 green onions
- salt and pepper
- 1 vine-ripened tomato, chopped
- 1/2 cup feta
- 2 Tablespoons chopped basil
For the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette:
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 garlic clove, microplaned or finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan. Add rinsed quinoa and place a lid on top, turn the heat down to medium-low, then cook until the broth is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 25 minutes. Fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette in a jar or bowl, then shake or whisk to combine and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add zucchini, sweet corn, and green onions, season with salt and pepper, then saute until barely tender, about 4 minutes. Add cooked quinoa and half the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette, then stir and cook for 1 more minute.*
- Add remaining vinaigrette, tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil to the skillet. Stir well, taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- If you want to make this a cold salad, cool cooked quinoa and veggies separately, then mix with the remaining vinaigrette, tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil, and chill completely.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I made this and it was amazing! I ate the leftovers for two nights! Yum!
This was super flavourful and refreshing!! WIll have this again soon!
I LOVE this recipe (I actually made it without the vinaigrette)! It will for SURE be one of my staple summer recipes going forward. I think the veggie combo you suggested of corn, zucchini and scallions is perfect flavor and texture wise. An amazing dish!!! I suggested it to a couple of people, they made it and absolutely loved it as well!
I made this on Friday and it was fabulous! I didn’t add any cheese and served the vinaigrette on the side (it didn’t need it, but it was a nice addition).
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I will be sharing this link with many friends and family members.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! This was my first time eat quinoa and my husband and I both love this salad.
Can’t wait to try more of your quinoa recipes.
Wow, this looks delicious! Pinning and trying it! Thanks :)
Just wanted to let you know that this is amazing! I’ve done it with a few different combinations of veggies(whatever was leftover from the last farmer’s market trip!) and I can’t get enough of it! The flavors in the dressing are amazing. Thank you for such a wonderful way to use up my farmer’s market finds!
Made this tonight for dinner! used zucchini, corn and red onions, it was absolutely delicious! what a creative spin on quinoa, I will definitely be trying this again!
I have had this recipe pinned for a while now, and finally made it tonight. All I can say is, WOW. Absolutely delicious. Will suggest it to lots of people!
This looks *AMAZING*, we are definitely having this for dinner this week. Thanks so much!
My first quinoa experience! I love this recipe and have made it several times now. So yummy!
I was able to try this when a friend made it and it was so good I had to do the same. I skipped on the corn because hubby is allergic and used yellow squash instead. Then took 2 cubanelles cut them lengthwise in the best bowl I could and grilled them with a little oil s&p then stuffed the cubanelles with the skillet mix and topped with a mild white cheddar which melted with little help. Needless to say my mainly carnivorous hubby found this to be a veggie delight! Thanks for the recipe and I love the honey lemon dressing!
This is our new favorite recipe. We can’t get enough of it! We live in Prague and didn’t want to go to the “specialty” store for some quinoa so we used (and I quote) “pig-slaughtering barley” and it was delicious. It was just normal barley :).
Also, I’m 100% guilty of the farmers market thing. I just went today, bought nothing and will go way out of my way on Monday to buy produce. It’s embarrassing!