My Chef's Hat - Spring Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
I've badly neglected the "Chef's Hat" portion of this blog, where I post new recipes I've made. My original goal was to make one new recipe per week, for the same reason as the new restuarants...I'm a creature of habit and end up rotating about 15 recipes around. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't cook at home 99% of the time for lunch and dinner. And as much as I enjoy eating out, it gets expensive really fast and can easily be unhealthy. I've done quite a few new recipes over the last several months, but just haven't posted them. Time to change that.
About 18 months ago I tried quinoa for the first time. Jack and Betty raved about it, and one evening when I was at their house they gave me a little dry quinoa to take home. The first time I cooked it in water. One bite, and I vowed never to eat it again. It was bland, flavorless, and tasted like wallpaper paste. A couple months later I decided to give it another shot, if for no other reason than it's very good for you. This time I cooked it in vegetable broth...and was sold. Both chicken and veggie broth add tons of flavor with just a couple of calories. So I've found and made many quinoa recipes, and have enjoyed all of them.
I found a recipe on Pinterest for Spring Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. It was full of stuff that I liked, and it sounded good, so I tried it out.
Here's the official picture
And here's my version
It was really good! I added too much lemon so it was really tart, but that's an easy fix. I also felt like it needed a little crunch. I made it again last week and added asparagus, and also threw in some sundried tomatoes. The asparagus took care of the crunch, and the tomatoes added a wonderful sweetness. I've kind of become obsessed with sundried tomatoes lately, ,so I add them wherever I can. It's funny because for a long time I wouldn't eat peas. I ate them all the time as a kid, but then stopped for probably 20 years. And just started back about 2 years ago. I don't eat them plain, but they're a quick and easy add to a lot of dishes.
Will I make this again? Definitely! The second time I made it I toned down the lemon, but can still do it a little more. And I'll definitely continue to use the asparagus and sundried tomatoes.
Recipe found on Pinch of Yum
