Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl with Fried Olives

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place 1 cup on a bowl with 2 tbsp of the dressing. Set aside.

To assemble the salad, in a large bowl or on a large platter, layer the cooked quinoa and then the other ingredients side by side (baby tomatoes, peppers, hardboiled egg, red onion, herbs, cucumbers, feta, artichoke hearts) - LEAVE SPACE FOR THE OLIVES.

Now to make the olives: Slice feta cheese into smaller pieces, about 1 inch in length, to fit into the olives. Take one piece of feta cheese per olive and gently stuff the olive. Repeat until all olives are stuffed.

Toss the olives in 3 tbsp flour and set aside.

Next, make the batter. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, pepper and dried oregano. Then whisk in the sparkling water until just combined and the consistency is like pancake batter. Add more water as needed if too thick.

Add the avocado oil to a medium pot or high-sided pan, about 1 ½ – 2 inches and heat over medium heat. You’ll know when the oil is hot enough if you dip the back of a wooden spoon in the oil and it sizzles OR drop in a pinch of batter and see it sizzle.

While the oil is heating, place a plate lined with a paper towel aside for cooked olives.

Drop a few olives in the batter and remove with a fork one at a time, shaking off excess batter before carefully dropping the olives into the hot oil.

Fry for about 5 minutes, until golden brown and rotate about halfway through to ensure golden brown colour all around the olive. If you find the olives are getting too dark in colour, turn the heat down a bit. Fry in batches until all olives are completed and let olives rest on a paper towel lined plate when done.

Add the olives to the salad, drizzle over the dressing and enjoy!