Warm, Quinoa-Crusted Feta

A crunchy, creamy crown for your spring salads

I don’t know if we’re still in the “spring of deception” stage of New York City’s usual weather whiplash, but over the past week or two it has felt reliably warmer and brighter, and — I say this cautiously — it appears winter may be in the rearview. We’ll see where things land come Wednesday.

In the meantime, my thirst for green and snappy young produce is real, and today’s recipe is perfect for amping up your spring salads. Given the fork-and-knife treatment, slabs of feta have a nubby, crisp, quinoa crust that plays beautifully against the salty, creamy cheese — and transforms a light salad into more of a meal. It’s made me think of the breaded goat cheese medallions of Chez Panisse circa 1981, though it’s also quite different from that.

I’d originally envisioned the feta as fully encased like a mozzarella stick, but the quinoa mixture doesn’t really coat in the same way as a flour + egg + breadcrumbs batter would; it’s much easier to just smear it on one side and then carefully flip it over into a hot skillet, and this method, to me, makes the contrast of warm, soft cheese to crunchy crust even more pronounced. It may sound a touch fussy, but it is actually pretty quick and easy.