Ursula's Mediterranean Quinoa Salad (with notes for the terrified neophyte)
People always surprised at how good this is. Found an incredible recipe several months ago. Printed paper copy. Lost paper copy. Remembered ingredients, but not exact quantities. Googled for recipes. Tried those powerful recipe search engines. Almost, but not quite. Frankensteined several recipes together with a few test-driven tweaks of my own and added the magic incredient, quinoa, which adds protein and slow-burning carbs for a satisfying balance.
Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa (what the $%# is quinoa?)
2 cups water
4 diced roma tomatoes (or any kind of tomato - about a cup)
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 small onion (about 1/3 cup)
one 15.75 oz can can of artichoke hearts, snipped
1/2 a small jar of sun dried tomatoes (about 8 tomato halves), snipped
2 Tbs each:
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
Mix in or serve on the side:
1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
Essential Implements:
* Small pot (2 quart) with a lid. (I like the ones with the vented lids (single hole in the top), which don't boil over.)
* knife
* large mixing bowl
* strainer / collander
Nice to have:
* scissors
* garlic press (or you can also find jars of minced garlic in the produce section)
Prep notes / micro management:
[1] Cook the quinoa: Mix 1 cup (half a 12-oz box) of quinoa and 2 cups water, bring to a boil, stir, then cover and turn it down to simmer for 15 minutes. If your pot has a vented lid you can pretty much forget about it until the timer goes off.
Don't cook it longer than 15 minutes or leave it covered while it's cooling or it could get a bit gooshy. If there's any liquid left over after cooking, drain the quinoa immediately. If you're using a fine mesh strainer, line it with a paper towel or you'll spend 15 minutes rinsing/picking quinoa out of your strainer. Fluff it with a fork a few times while it cools.
You can get red, black or white quinoa. I've only ever used Ancient Harvest brand Inca red thus far and I'm happy with it. (Yeah, quinoa is a tad spendy. Hopefully cheaper sources will turn up.) If you get a different brand, check the box to see if it's pre-rinsed. If not you'll need to rinse it off or it will be bitter.
While the quinoa is cooking......
[2] Chop the fresh veggies: Chop the tomato, cucumber and onion into small pieces with the onion chopped a bit smaller. If you can handle the strong flavour, red onion adds colour. Vidalia onions are milder and slightly sweet.
[3] Drain and snip the canned veggies: Artichokes and sundried tomatoes are annoying to cut up with a knife. Scissors are much easier.
[4] Mince or press the garlic Mince the garlic or put it through a garlic press (much easier). Rinse the garlic press immediately afterward or you'll have a hell of a time cleaning it later.
[5] Olives and feta: Some people can't stand Kalamata olives. Some frown on feta. If this might be an issue, you can serve them on the side. I slice the olives lengthwise into four pieces so that they turn up as little zings of flavour rather than "Omg OLIVE!"
[6] Mix (all but the quinoa) / chill salad and quinoa in separate containers / serve salad on a bed of quinoa*
* I keep the quinoa separate so that it doesn't get gooshy and can be used in other things. For instance, it makes a decent breakfast cereal.
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