Grain salads- surround yourself with deliciousness

Recipes from today's KSBI 52 All About You episode include:
-Mexican quinoa salad with lime jalapeno vinaigrette (gluten free recipe)
-Moroccan sweet potato and Forbidden rice salad (gluten free recipe)
-Curried chickpea, cauliflower and barley salad


Fiesta in a bowl!

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Salad: 1 cup quinoa, soaked for 1 hour in water and drained*
1/2 cup baby tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1/2 avocado, pitted and diced
1/2 cup corn kernels, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cups baby spinach
optional add-in ingredients: 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, handful of crushed tortilla chips, 3 tablespoons diced jicama, 2 thinly sliced radishes
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice squeezed from 2 limes
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or 1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño pepper
¼ cup olive oil


Start by cooking quinoa. In a medium saucepan bring 1 1/2 cup of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and the quinoa.  Once water comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes until water is absorbed.  Let quinoa sit off the heat for 10 minutes before removing lid & fluffing with a fork.  Cool quinoa to room temperature before adding to salad bowl.


In a large salad bowl, toss together the rest of the salad ingredients except the spinach. Once quinoa has cooled, add it to this veggie mixture. Set aside while making dressing.
Dressing: in separate bowl, mix all dressing ingredients except olive oil. Whisk in olive oil slowly to emulsify. Taste dressing on a spinach leaf. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper and/ lime juice. Once ready to serve, pour a few tablespoons of dressing over salad mixture, add spinach and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.

Note: if you don't have time to soak quinoa but want to rid the grain of its bitter coating, simply wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a fine-mesh sieve between changes. Serves 4
Recipe inspired by Self Magazine


Roasted sweet potatoes

Moroccan Bhutanese Red Rice & Sweet Potato Salad
1 cup Bhutanese red rice or Forbidden Black Rice (Lotus Foods brand)*
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into small cubes (about 1 pound)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
¾ t. Kosher salt

Dressing:

Pinch of saffron threads
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of rice and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt.  Once water comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook for 30 minutes, until water has absorbed.  Let stand, covered, off heat for 10 minutes before fluffing with fork.  Let cool to room temperature before adding rice to salad bowl.

Meanwhile, spread potatoes out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Using hands, toss to coat potatoes. Bake until done, about 25-30 minutes, when pierced with a knife and there’s no resistance. Set aside.

Lastly, make vinaigrette by mixing together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add cooked sweet potatoes, cooked rice and let sit for 30 minutes, stirring now and then. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve at room temperature.

Note: can add additional ingredients like green olives, zest of one lemon and/ green onions. Also brown rice, barley or farro would work well instead of red rice. Roast potatoes up to 2 days ahead.

Serves 4
Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters

Ready to enjoy





  



Yum on a plate

Curried Chickpea, Caulilfower & Barley Salad

Salad:
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed & drained
5 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced at a diagonal
1/3 cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted & roughly chopped*
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
Cauliflower:
1 medium head cauliflower, cored, cut into 1-inch florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt 
Dressing:
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, preferably Madras
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled & minced
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°

To cook barley, add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, add a generous pinch of salt and turn heat to high. Once water comes to a boil, add barley, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes, until barley is tender but chewy.  Side note: if you buy pearled barley know that it has a longer cooking time ~ 45-60 minutes.  Once barley is cooked, let sit for 5 minutes, covered before fluffing with a fork.  Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a large salad bowl toss the rest of the salad ingredients together.  Set aside.Roast cauliflower: toss cauliflower and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Transfer to medium rimmed baking sheet. Roast until very tender & browned in spots, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.

Vinaigrette: in small bowl whisk together all but the olive oil.  Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Thirty minutes before serving, add cooked barley & roasted cauliflower to salad bowl.  Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat salad.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve at room temperature, cold or warm.

Note: to toast shelled pistachios, bake in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Dried apricots and almonds are good substitues for golden raisins and pistachios. Roast cauliflower up to 2 days ahead.  Try roasting another veg if you don't like cauliflower.
Serves 4

Recipe inspired by Ad Hoc at Home