Quinoa Salad

Some of you asked for the quinoa salad recipe. The recipe has many variations because the cook is supposed to just stick in whatever they enjoy.

We were told at our Vegan class that quinoa is very healthy for you because of its high nutritional value.

This is from Wikipedia:

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.

Quinoa can be used as a grain such as rice.

Cook quinoa:1 part quinoa to 2 parts water and cook for about 15 minutes. Quinoa can also be cooked in a rice cooker.

Seasonings for salad:

Our presenter just used the oil from the sun dried tomatoes, coarse sea salt, coarse ground pepper and balsamic vinegar.

I also added some Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.

Cut FIRM TOFU into cubes.

Vegetable Options:

Cucumber
Red peppers (sweet)
Green onions
Broccoli
Cauliflower

Canned or bottled:
Kidney beans
Garbanzo beans
Artichoke hearts
Green olives (This adds quite a bit of flavoring. Art says it's the salt.)
Sun dried tomatoes
Raisins or dried cranberries
Corn
3 bean salad (I used Green Giant) This adds quite a bit of flavor

Toss everything together, cool, and enjoy. It's great in hot summer weather. Note of caution. This is like me making chicken soup. It ends up being a LOT!


By the Way: I'm been wanting badly to catch up on my visiting with all of you, but I'm in the final stages of completing Art's genealogy on his mother's side. It is taking up almost all my waking hours. If you see any photos of me now, my eyes will be bloodshot. I want to get close to finishing before our Yellowstone trip because you KNOW I'm going to have a few thousand photos to organize after that expedition.

The Iron You blog has a great post explaining all about quinoa.  Do check it out for more information.