Warm Quinoa Salad

I was a little late to the quinoa party. Fashionably late would be a polite way to put it, but the honest truth is that the party was well under way when I eventually showed up & no one saw me arrive. When I did finally make it, however, I was ready to go hard with the best of them.

Alright, so it’s hardly the celebration of the century & I realize comparing an ancient grain to an evening of liquid libations & dance-floor filling tunes is farfetched to say the least, but the quinoa party is pretty hot right now. There are recipes for this edible seed all over the internet & in almost every recently purchased cookbook on our shelf, so I decided it was time to join in. And now? Juts you try & make me leave this place!

Party metaphor aside, quinoa very quickly became a favorite pantry staple for us several months ago after trying an awesome recipe by A Saucy Kitchen. Before then I had continuously turned my nose up at the idea, believing it to be a dull health food that would be difficult to prepare. The truth is, I honestly hadn’t realized how simple it was until I decided to get involved. In addition, I soon found it be the perfect vehicle for carrying all kinds of flavors & textures depending on the season. We began to consume quinoa weekly, substituting it for rice when I cooked a curry & experimenting with building salads for lunches. We discovered it holds wonderfully in the refrigerator for several days & reheats without any change in texture or flavor. In short, it’s now as popular as pasta in our home & almost as much-loved.

My favorite way to enjoy quinoa is in a warm salad. I’m contemplating this statement while writing & suddenly I’m struck with how foreign of a concept this once was to me & how the word “salad” was firmly associated with boring, unsatisfying, healthy eating. The stigma is by no means completely quashed, however, in the United States where restaurant chains such as Sweetgreen & Chopt serve up expensive salad-type-dishes to long lines of patrons every lunch time, it’s clear the salad is more popular than ever. And I’m ok with that, especially when it includes a good-looking mountain of charred vegetables & fresh herbs on a bed of warm quinoa!

So who else is joining the party? It’s still going strong right now, everyone is welcome & I think this recipe is suited for dipping your perfectly manicured, high-heel-wearing foot in the water, before tearing it up with the rest of us quinoa party people! See you on the dance-floor, friend!

Warm Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 30-35 minutes
Serves: 4

Note: If you’d like to add some protein to make this dish more robust, grilled chicken or ground beef skewers would be a great accompaniment! Alternatively, a simple panfried salmon fillet would be wonderful.

ingredients

• 1 cup (190g / 6 ½ oz) quinoa
  *I like rainbow best, but any kind of quinoa will work

• 2 cups (475 ml / 16 oz) vegetable or chicken stock

• 1 small to medium butternut squash, peeled & cut into ½” cubes

• Approximately 400g / 14 oz brussel sprouts, ends trimmed, outer leaves removed & sliced in half

• 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into 1-2” florets

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

• 1/4 cup (35g / 1.2 oz) pine nuts

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• ½ medium red onion, finely diced

• 2 medium carrots, sliced into thin circles

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• A handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

instructions

1. If using a convection or fan oven, preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. For conventional oven baking, set the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

2. Prepare the squash, brussel sprouts, & cauliflower for roasting. Once peeled & cut down to size, spread the prepared vegetables onto three separate baking sheets. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil & season generously with salt & pepper. Add thyme sprigs to the butternut squash if desired.

3. Roast vegetables in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until tender. I personally prefer my cauliflower & brussel sprouts a little charred. Roasting the vegetables on three separate trays allows you to remove them individually according to how quickly they cook.

4. While the vegetables are roasting, heat the stock until boiling in a small saucepan. Place the quinoa in a sieve & rinse thoroughly before carefully adding to the boiling stock. Stir once, then reduce to a simmer & cover. Leave the quinoa to cook for 20 minutes while preparing the pine nuts & carrots.

5. In a large skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium heat, stirring until fragrant, approximately 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate & set aside.

6. In a dutch oven or casserole dish, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the red onion & cook for 5-10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic & cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

7. Add the sliced carrots to the onion & garlic mixture. Add the spices, season with salt & pepper & stir until blended. Cover & cook over medium heat until the carrots are cooked through (5-10 minutes) checking & stirring periodically. Finish by adding the red wine vinegar, then set aside.

8. Uncover the quinoa after 20 minutes & poke a spoon or spatular into the grains, there should be no water on the bottom of the pan. Once all of the water has been absorbed, remove from the heat & place a paper towel under the saucepan lid. This helps to absorb any additional water released by the steaming seeds.

9. At this point, the vegetables should be finished roasting, the quinoa cooked, & the carrots softened with the spices. In a large bowl, begin building the salad. Spoon the warm quinoa into the base of the dish & top with the toasted pine nuts, spiced carrots & roasted vegetables. Add a good handful of fresh parsley then toss everything together until evenly combined.

10. Spoon onto plates & serve!