....with a side of quinoa

Coming off of yesterday's spectacular kitchen fail, I started cooking today with the intention of making something that I know works. Trust me, I was not ready to spend another 2 hours trying to make dish after dish with the meagre contents of my fridge. Yesterday, not only did I try to be creative with my dinner, I tried to be creative by making coriander pesto! I'm not insane - the Food Network told me that it was possible and delicious, but they underestimated my ambitiousness. I replaced the almonds (which I didn't have) in the recipe with pistachios (which I had), and added a bit of parsley thinking that it would bring the flavour of the pesto out. It did not. It tasted like blended grass. With bits of pistachio.
So today, nothing like that. I decided to make a really simple (and bonus, nutritious!) dish, from a recipe that I got from my dear friend H, who is the queen of healthy food. She is the person who first introduced me to quinoa, and I've never looked back. It's just so, so good.
The recipe is very simple, can be made with easy-to-find ingredients and can be modified according to your taste. I like to add a bit more balsamic and some pepper plus a bit more lime juice. Cilantro is a great addition (I just didn't have any today).

H's quinoa salad

1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 green bell pepper
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/4 tsp cumin powder
pinch chili powder
1 /12 tbsp balsamic/red wine vinegar
dash of olive oil
Juice from 2 limes
salt and pepper, to taste.

1. Cook quinoa and set aside to cool.
2. Chop cilantro and green bell pepper
3. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, cumin powder, chili powder, olive oil, salt and pepper
4. Add green bell pepper, corn and bean to quinoa
5. Mix in the dressing, add lime juice and fold in cilantro

Yum
Serve cold or at room temperature (or however you want, if you're as impatient as I am).

Comments

  1. Sara-Katherine Coxon31 March 2011 at 10:10

    I am sooo glad to see H's Quinoa Salad! I lost that recipe card ages ago... many thanks, squid. XOXOX
    -Your favourite Washingtonian fan

    ReplyDelete

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