Cooking with Quinoa – Preserved Lime Quinoa Salad

One of my favorite ways of cooking with quinoa is to take recipes that call for other grains and make them with quinoa.  Invariability I will make other changes as well, because I like my food to have a lot of kick to it. (Hence the 3 teaspoons of garlic here – if you aren’t a garlic lover, simply reduce the amount you use.)

I found the inspiration for this recipe in a Cooking Light this past spring.  The original recipe called for bulgur.  Now, I like cooking bulgur, but I like cooking quinoa more.  Plus, I always make sure that I have quinoa in the house and that isn’t the case for other grains.  There are two reasons that I prefer to make most dishes with quinoa.  One is that I like quinoa and I like the way I feel when I cook quinoa.  It makes me full but I never feel stuffed like I do when I eat some grains.  (I have actually lost about 25 pounds since I started including quinoa recipes as a regular part of my diet, Yeah Me!) The next reason is that I struggle to get enough protein in my diet and quinoa is a fantastic source of vegetarian protein.  I am really trying to stay away from meat as much as can and quinoa really helps me do it.

The results were yummy and  this is a great quinoa recipe for summer.  (Is it ever going to cool down?)  I hope you enjoy!

Preserved Lime Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• ½ cup cucumber, chopped
• ¾  cup plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• ¾ cup flat-leaf parsely, chopped
• ¾ cup shallots, chopped
• 4 T kalamata olives, chopped
• 14 oz garbanzo beans (preferably BPA free)
• Dressing
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 T lime juice
• 3 t garlic, minced (or to taste)
• ½ t kosher salt
• ½ t ground black pepper
• Pinch of sugar
• 2  Quick Preserved Limes, chopped (recipe below)

Instructions
1.    Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a find mesh strainer.  Bring water to a boil and add the quinoa.  Cook for ten minutes and then rinse with cold water.
2.    Bring a small amount of water to a boil.  Put the quinoa in the mesh strainer and place into the pot.  Cover with a towel and lid.  Steam for ten minutes.  Allow to cool.
3.    Combine quinoa and the next five ingredients (through garbanzo beans) in a large bowl.
4.    Combine dressing ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth.  Pour over salad and toss.

Quick Preserved Limes from Cooking Light
2 cups water
¼ cup kosher salt
4 quartered limes
10 peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Instructions
1.     Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.  Cool to room temperature.

Now, I know the method of cooking quinoa is a bit more complicated than some, but honestly this is the only way that I cook quinoa for a salad.    Stay tuned for more on how to cook quinoa!

Tagged as: Cooking Quinoa, cooking with quinoa, How to Cook Quinoa, Quinoa recipe, Quinoa Recipes