MONDAY RECIPE POST - MAKE-AHEAD QUINOA SALAD WITH CUCUMBER, TOMATO, AND HERBS

This salad has a dressing that is nice and light and had only two ingredients, red wine vinegar and olive oil. I found it here.

Make-ahead Quinoa Salad with Cucumber, Tomato and Herbs

Serves 4 to 6 people

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

1 cup Quinoa

1 pint grape tomatoes, split into quarters 

1 large cucumber, seeds removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or use a hot house cucumber, or miniature cucumbers where you don't need to deseed)

Kosher salt to taste

2 small shallots, minced

1/2 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Combine Quinoa and 2 cups of water in a small saucepan.  

Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 7 minutes.  

Shut off heat and let rest until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes longer.

Transfer Quinoa to a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until thoroughly chilled. Let drain for 10 minutes.

While Quinoa cooks, combine tomatoes and cucumbers in a colander set in the sink.

Season with the Kosher salt to taste and toss to coat.

Let drain in sink until ready to combine with Quinoa.

In a large bowl, toss drained Quinoa, drained tomatoes, cucumbers, shallots, parsley, mint, olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Serve immediately or, for the best flavor, let rest overnight in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Salad can be stored in the sealed container, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days.

What did we think of this recipe?  Very enjoyable, a pretty salad served with your main dish.  

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) I don't have very often, but I like the texture.  I once read that Quinoa was an important crop for the Inca Empire, and that they referred to it as the mother of all grains, believing it to be sacred.  It actually isn't a grain but is a seed that is prepared and eaten similarly to a grain.  It has been consumed for thousands of years in South America, but reached a 'superfood' status several years ago and is now very popular and considered very healthy.

I changed three of the ingredients by replacing the shallots with green onions and the fresh mint with fresh basil.  I also used a hothouse cucumber, the kind you don't have to remove the seeds.

Added note: I made this dish again a week later.  I was curious what it would be like using Orzo pasta.  I replaced the Quinoa with the Orzo.  This time we added a slice of crusty bread, thinly sliced Dubliner cheese and Branston chutney, which made a semi Ploughman's supper, similar to the one below.

You can change the ingredients to your own tastes but a Ploughman's basics traditionally are bread, cheese, a selection of deli meat and pickle.  My favorites are a freshly baked wholewheat bread roll, two wedges of cheese, usually Stilton and Sharp Cheddar, sliced ham, lettuce with onion, gherkins, cucumber and tomato wedges, and Branston Chutney.  I add a glass of cider if I am out and about.  

Here is a photo of the salad with orzo pasta.  

Thanks for looking and 

I wish you all a great week.