June 13, 2012 Red Quinoa Salad

As a long time fan of grain salads, I was pleased to see my favorite food magazine Fine Cooking’s article in the June/July issue, The New Summer Side-summer grain salads. Their nifty recipe maker feature allows you to drag and drop ingredients into a bowl and gives the cook countless combinations of grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts to make their own unique grain salad with a final recipe to print out at the end.  I chose quinoa as the base for my salad. KEEN-wah (as it is pronounced) is not a really a grain, but a pseudograin, a relative of chard and beets, grown for its seeds.  It has been cultivated in the Andes Mountains for over 5000 years. The “mother grain” as quinoa is translated in a Native American language, is rich in fiber, complete protein and B vitamins. It is gluten-free and easy to digest. Red quinoa has been described as both sweeter and earthier than the yellow. I chose it for the contrast in color to the green vegetables. Asparagus was in season at the farmers market and I picked Easter egg radishes and snow peas from our garden. Don’t skip rinsing the quinoa, the saponin coating is bitter and not always fully removed in processing. I look forward to using the create your own grain salad recipe maker throughout the summer as more vegetables come into season to come up with many new combinations.

Red Quinoa Salad

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

• 2 c red quinoa (you can substitute yellow or black)
• 1/4c white balsamic vinegar
• 2T fresh lemon juice
• 2T roasted walnut oil
• 2t  honey
• 1t finely grated lemon zest
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 c asparagus
• 1T olive oil
• 1/2c thinly sliced radishes
• 1c sugar snap peas
• 1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts
• 3/4c crumbled feta cheese
• 1T finely snipped chives
• 1T finely chopped flat leaved parsley

Directions

1. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh colander under cold running water and drain well before cooking.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the grains turn from white to transparent and the spiral-like germ has separated, this could take anywhere between 15-20 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain very well.  Transfer quinoa to a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a little bit of the olive oil and allow to cool completely.
3. Put the vinegar, lemon juice, honey and grated lemon peel in a small bowl and gradually whisk in the olive and walnut oils. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Trim asparagus into 1 inch diagonal pieces and transfer to a microwave safe container with 1/2c water, 1T olive oil and 1/2t kosher salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for about 4 minutes, check for doneness, thicker stalks may take a little longer. Drain in a colander.
5. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add sugar snap peas and cook until the peas turn bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse. Slice on the diagonal.
6. Place cooled quinoa in a bowl large enough to toss all ingredients. Toss quinoa to break up any clumps. Add asparagus, radishes, snow peas, walnuts, feta, chives and parsley and toss with about 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette. Taste and season as needed with more vinaigrette, salt and pepper.
7. You can either serve the salad immediately or refrigerate to serve the next day. Bring to room temperature before serving and season again as needed.