Quinoa salad

I have been experimenting with food and I’ve had a million things going on. I do have a bunch of ideas for blog posts and I promise I’ll update the blog for real. But, for now, Groom and I just made such a delicious lunch, I want to share the recipe–one, so you can make it too and, two, so I can remember what we did.

A few notes first:
This is a great way to use up leftover quinoa and the slivered almonds add a nice texture.

I pepper and salt vegetables before I roast them, but that’s up to you. I find adding a little salt before putting them in the oven makes them roast better. (And, I make sure the vegetables are super dry or they just sort of limp up.) Some people prefer to pepper the vegetables after they come out of the oven. Dealer’s choice.

Also, keep in mind that we did all of this to taste, so you can add more tomatoes or fewer tomatoes and if you want to add cranberries or raisins, have at. I don’t like parsley that much, so I would use less of that. But, that’s just me.

Finally, if you want to cook the quinoa with chicken stock and wine, I won’t judge you. 

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup slivered almonds

juice from half a lemon
one clove of really good garlic, two gloves of regular, pressed or minced
black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

two bundles of asparagus

olive oil for drizzle
black pepper
sea salt

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Rinse and cook the quinoa in fat-free, low-sodium vegetable stock (one cup quinoa to two cups liquid) for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff then let cool. Set aside.

Rinse and dry the asparagus. Break the bottoms off and arrange on cooking sheet so all asparagus is flat and not crowded (you might have to cook in two batches).

Drizzle asparagus with olive oil. Add black pepper and a little bit of sea salt. Cook until you hear sizzling–about five minutes. Flip the asparagus and cook until it’s roasted but still green. Allow to cool.

Combine lemon juice, garlic, and black pepper in small bowl. Whisk in olive oil to taste (you might not use all the olive oil).

Mix the cooled quinoa, tomatoes, scallions, parsley, and almonds in large bowl. Add dressing and mix gently.

Chop asparagus and add to quinoa.

Voila! Serve with avocado. 

Sarah Devlin

About Sarah Devlin

Sarah Devlin has been writing about the recreational industry since the late ’90s but ironically can’t run, swim, or bike a mile.