Quinoa Salad

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain that comes from the Andes mountains of South America. Quinoa’s origins dates back to that of the Inca’s. Quinoa has many nutritional benefits: rated 35 on the gylcemic index, high in iron, is a vegetarian’s delight when maintaining protein intake, a good source of dietary fiber, gluten free (easy to digest) and high in magnesium. Quinoa has a pleasant, slightly crunchy, nutty taste. It can be used in salads, stuffings, risotto’s, breakfast cereal, desserts. For more recipes on quinoa, click here.

Serves 4
1 cup uncooked quinoa
12 asparagus spears (grilled)
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese or feta
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Boil water in a pot and add quinoa. Turn the heat down to low and cook until tender (about 20 minutes). Drain water and allow quinoa to cool. Chop asparagus into bite size pieces and add to cooled quinoa along with the cheese, olives, sun dried tomatoes, oil and vinegar. Gently toss and season with salt and pepper.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: When grilling asparagus make sure to add a touch of olive oil so the asparagus doesn’t dry out or stick to the grill. I added fresh chopped tomato to the salad. The quinoa seems to ‘pop’ in your mouth when taking a bite.