Quinoa Salad for a Scorcher of a Day

It’s hot!! Boston is in the midst of another heat wave and temperatures are rising! Humidity is at an all time high, and some local towns have even affected water bans for their localities. (Even though we experienced some torrential rain this spring!). With all this heat, it’s natural to want to eat light, cooling and refreshing things. And this morning, while reading the New York Times, I stumbled upon just such a dish: a spicy quinoa, cucumber and tomato salad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/health/nutrition/13recipehealth.html

The only problem? I didn’t have all the ingredients to make it. So, I improvised and I compromised and eventual I wound up with something pretty close, and hopefully just as refreshing and tasty.
I deemed it quinoa salad for a scorcher of a day, inspired very closely by the article above. Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa) has been dubbed the gold of the Incas and although an ancient grain, is actually the seeds of a plant related to the beet, chard and spinach family.

Quinoa which is highly rich in protein, is the only ‘complete’ protein and contains all 9 of the essential amino acids. This makes it an excellent choice for healthy consumption, and a wonderful addition to a salad in the summer months. Cool crisp veggies and the nutritious quinoa fill you up and do absolutely nothing to your waist line! So that means, you can enjoy your salad, and still have room for an evening ice cream treat!

Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy!

For the quinoa salad (which serves 8) you’ll need
Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked quinoa
1 fist full of dried cranberries
½ red onion1 small cucumber

½ large roma tomato

1 ½ ear of corn - steamed

3 inch large piece of daikon radish

1 – 2 green chillis

2 limes juiced
6 tsp olive oil

½ inch of ginger
cracked pepper
salt
Method:

Wash the quinoa thrice with cool water in a bowl to cleanse it and remove its saponins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponins).

When draining the quinoa after each wash, pour it through a sieve to remove the water and prevent the quinoa from flowing away into the sink.

Then soak the quinoa in cool water for 15 mts to further aid in saponin removal.

After 15 minutes, drain the quinoa again (remember the sieve method) and add 1 cup of fresh water to it.

Pour the quinoa and water into a pan, add ½ tsp of salt and let the quinoa cook on high until the water boils and barely a thin layer of water is left on top of the grain.

At this point, add the cranberries, cover the pot and let the quinoa cook undisturbed for 10 minutes on a low simmer.

Once done shut off the stove.

In the meantime, cut the onion, tomato, cucumber, daikon radish and green chilli into bite size dices. Try and make each piece the same size so that every bite in the salad will have a little bit of everything. Once you’ve finished your chopping, place all the vegetables into a large serving bowl.

Next, steam the ears of corn until tender and then cool. Once cool, cut the kernels off and discard the ears. Add to the serving bowl.

Then wisk together the juice of 2 limes, freshly cracked pepper, 6 tsp of olive oil and salt to taste to create a light dressing for this salad. After combined, thinly slice a ½ inch piece of ginger into bite size pieces and add to the dressing. Set this aside for all the flavors to combine and become bright and light.

Once the quinoa had finished cooking, remove and place in a bowl to cool. You’ll know when the quinoa is done, because it will have increased in size, become moist and fluffy and most of all sprouted a characteristic thread out of each grain. (The first time I cooked quinoa I thought I had spoiled it because of this very thread!)

After the quinoa has cooled to room temperature, add the quinoa to the serving bowl and toss to combine with the other ingredients.After combined, spoon ½ of the dressing over the quinoa salad and mix. Add the rest and toss fully to incorporate all the ingredients.

Now let the salad sit for a few minutes as all the flavors combine, and then serve a couple heaping serving spoons to each person and enjoy!

The quinoa salad will keep fresh for a couple days in your fridge, so in case you have any leftover, just store it away for later!

And be sure to beat the heat and be good to yourself in these hot and humid summer months!