Summer Grain Salad

As most of you know, I'm a big fan of Fine Cooking magazine.  They often publish a master recipe that provides you with lots of flavour options so you can create your own recipe that suits your tastes.  The June/July 2012 issue (issue #117) has a Summer Grain Salad recipe that allows you to do just that.  Below is the recipe I created to pair with black bean veggie burgers for dinner tonight.

Summer Grain Salad: Sandra-Style
(serves 8-10)

2 cups quinoa
Kosher salt
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 cup oil-paced artichoke hearts, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 cup celery, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 cup red and yellow peppers, cut into medium dice
1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve.  Put into a medium size pot and add enough water to cover the quinoa by 1 inch.  Add a pinch of Kosher salt and bring to a boil over medium heat; then cover, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand for another 5 minutes.  Remove lid and transfer the quinoa onto a rimmed baking sheet to cool completely at room temperature.

Prepare the chopped vegetables and herbs.


For the dressing, put vinegar, olive oil, tahini, salt and pepper in a jar and blitz with immersion/stick blender.  Add the lemon zest and whisk to combine.  

Place cooled quinoa in a large bowl and fluff with a fork to break up clumps.  Add the vegetables, herbs, and approximately half of the dressing.  Toss and taste.  Season with more dressing and/or salt and/or pepper as needed.

Let the salad sit at room temperature and season with more dressing (and salt and pepper, if needed) before serving.

Sensational Salads

This evening I decided to go with two great salad standbys:

Quinoa Tabbouleh (see blog of July 29 for recipe)

and

Chickpea, Carrot & Parsley Salad (see blog of August 5 for recipe)

In addition, I cut up some cubes of feta cheese to serve on the side and steamed some broccoli - fresh from my friend's garden. To the steamed broccoli, I just lightly drizzled some organic toasted sesame oil.

And there you have it!

Better Late Than Never

I was a bit late getting dinner started tonight and I'm not the fastest cook in the West so Michael was anxiously awaiting tonight's meal. I used the same chicken recipe I made on July 18 (refer to blog of this date for the recipe) except tonight I used fresh cilantro in place of the rosemary for a different flavour profile. To accompany the chicken I made Quinoa Tabbouleh. Of course there's a significant protein content in the quinoa so not even necessary to serve it with another protein (in this case chicken), but that's just what I was in the mood for. And for our vegetable, Grilled Eggplant Marinated with Mint. Michael wanted to make sure the mint got a special mention because it's from our garden. Or I should say, his garden. We...I mean he planted a variety of different herbs just a few weeks ago. We don't have a lot of anything at the moment, but if this hot weather continues, we'll be brainstorming what to do with the abundance of basil, lavender, cilantro, etc.

Below are both recipes for your consideration. After just one taste of last night's Chocolate Bourbon Popsicles we are addicted! So dessert tonight was a repeat. Besides we have to get through the popsicles quickly so I can re-use the popsicle molds to try another flavour. I have my eye on a peach & prosecco combo so do expect to see that sometime soon.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

(recipe from the Clean Food cookbook with some amendments)

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cup chopped mint

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely

1 cup diced cucumber

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup lemon juice

Sea salt

Rinse the quinoa and place in a bowl with enough water to cover. Allow quinoa to soak for as little as one hour or overnight. Place quinoa in fine-mesh strainer and rinse. Place quinoa in a 2-quart pot and add enough water to cover. Add a pinch of sea salt. Bring to a bowl over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to minimum and cover pot. The quinoa will take approximately 15 to cook. Take a peak to make sure most of the water has been absorbed; then remove from heat and leave (with cover on) for 5 minutes. Remove cover and let the quinoa cool to room temperature. To quicken this process, scatter quninoa onto a cookie sheet to let cool.

While quinoa is cooking place all remaining ingredients in a bowl. When quinoa is cool (or even slightly warm), add to bowl and mix with other ingredients. Season to taste with sea salt and serve at room temperature or chill.

Grilled Eggplant Marinated with Mint (serves 8)
(Recipe from Fine Cooking magazine issue 59)

2 small globe eggplant (about 1-3/4 lb. total)

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic

1-1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice or red-wine vinegar

1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh mint leaves (from about 1/4 bunch)

Heat a gas grill to medium high or prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire.

Using a serrated knife or a mandoline, slice the eggplant into rounds as thin as possible, about 1/4 to 1/8 inch. Spread the sliced eggplant (you may have to overlap them slightly) on two large baking sheets. Brush the tops with 1/2 cup of the oil and season with salt and pepper.
Smash the garlic and a pinch of salt into a paste. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the garlic paste. Whisk in the lemon juice or vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Once the fire is hot, grill both sides of the eggplant (in batches if necessary) until softened and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. It’s fine if it chars slightly.

Transfer the eggplant to a medium serving bowl, add the garlic oil, and toss gently so as not to tear the eggplant. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours at room temperature (or refrigerate for up to 24 hours, but bring to room temperature before serving). Toss in the mint just before serving.

Anything Goes

Wholesome, tasty, and satisfying. That's how I describe tonight's dinner. It was a Quinoa and Tofu Salad Meal chock-full of veggies of every colour and texture with an Asian inspired dressing. Of course this dish is high in protein with both tofu and quinoa, but for those who aren't fond of tofu - you can forego it and still have a good amount of protein courtesy of the super grain, quinoa (I've had lots of people ask me how to pronounce it, and it's "keen-wah"). To cook it, you basically treat it like you do rice as far as technique goes. Put it in a pot and cover with water (about a 2:1 ratio - so that's two parts water to one part quinoa). Put in a pinch of salt (use a good salt - like unrefined sea salt and not the bleached white table salt you grew up with that clogs your arteries!). Put the pot on a high heat to boil, then stick a lid on it, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 or so minutes just until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Then turn off the heat and let it steam a few minutes. To make this salad, I then dump the quinoa onto a cookie sheet and spread it out so it cools faster. To construct the salad, I first mix my dressing ingredients together in the bottom of a large bowl (any home-made dressing is good), then add in the cooled, cooked quinoa, some firm tofu (if using) cut in cubes, and lots of veggies. Anything goes! Feel free to take this opportunity to use up the veggies sitting in your fridge that aren't quite enough to make anything else. You know what I'm talking about. The one carrot you have that got lost under the big head of cauliflower, the half a red pepper looking all discarded in the back corner of the veggie drawer that you're only going to throw out in a few more days when it's garbage night, the two stalks of celery that you forgot were there and can't think of anything else to do with anyways. You get the picture. Tonight I used (up) carrots, green onions, cucumber, red pepper, radishes, bean sprouts, and lettuce. Clean and chop/slice all your veggies and add them to the big salad bowl already holding the dressing, quinoa, and tofu. Some fancy tossing action and you've got yourself a great dinner and wonderful leftovers to take to work tomorrow.