Killer Quinoa Salad

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zul

Newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2010
18
10
Cloud 9
Ok, I realize this is extremely non-traditional for BBQ's and the fact that it contains no meat might draw a few dirty looks from some members here (could be easily modified to accomidate the carnivores in the group) but seriously, if you are looking for an amazingly refreshing and extremely delicious side that is easy to prepare and is a wicked accompaniment to some smoking hot bbq give this a go;

Killer Quinoa Salad

8266856f_QuinoaSalad.jpg


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  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups red beans
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 jalapeño pepper
  • 2 cups fresh corn, cut from cob
  • 3 tablespoons parsley
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 - Rinse quinoa to remove bitter coating. Then cook quinoa in water for 15 minutes or until fluffy. Set aside.

2 - Dice red onion, red bell pepper, and carrot. Seed and mince jalapeño pepper. Keep the seeds for a spicier salad. Chop parsley. Combine all the chopped vegetables in a large mixing bowl along with corn.

3 - Add oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper to the vegetables and stir well to combine.

4 - Toss quinoa with veggies, serve warm or chilled, and swoon.

If you want to add meat, my suggestion would be some smoked/grilled chicken.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.
 
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I think it sounds awesome and I will definitely try this. Nothing wrong with a healthy side and it looks delicious in the pic. Thanks Zul! 
 
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Hey, this stuff is good for you!   I use Quinoa with a mix of other grains to make a good tasting breakfast cereal.  Gonna have to give it a try your way.

Al 
 
Zul: don't feel shy about posting stuff that is "healthy" for us.  There's more of us than them.  Now, if you take this one step further and cold smoke this salad for about 30 minutes with a gentle smoke of oh, I don't know, maybe .... well, sounds like an experiment coming up.  Thanks for the recipe.  Got any more suggestions for using Quinoa?
 
Thanks for the recipe. It sounds delicious. I copied & printed it out for future use. Thanks for sharing.
 
LOL... sorry this post cracks me up.

When I was growing up my mom was very "granola", and so were all her friends. When she was pregnant with my first sister a family friend offered to come over and help with cooking and what not for a while. One night she made a pot of quinoa as a side.... it was just quinoa cooked in water, thats it.... no seasoning of any kind at all!! Well lets just say that quinoa with no seasoning is similar to eating that glue paste we all used to eat as kids..... just less flavorfull than the glue paste.... lol. I remember both my step-dad and I tried to feed  it to the cat under the table, cat was having none if it. We tried to eat some just to be polite, but were uncessfull for the most part.

To this day quinoa is a big laugh in our family, as a joke I got my step-dad a 2 lb. bag of it for Christmas last year.... as far as I know it has never been opened yet... lol. Still cracks me up that stores and foods that used to be cheap because they were "hippie" food, now get premium dollars because they are now "local organic" and "Whole Foods".
 
My Doc talked me into making the switch from rice to quinoa and from regular pasta to whole grain. So I'm adding this recipe to my to-do list.  One of my favorite quinoa side dishes is to cook the quinoa in a low sodium/low fat beef or chicken broth. While the quinoa is cooking, I'll saute some minced onion, green bell pepper and garlic in some EVOO. When the quinoa is done, I'll stir it into the sauted veggies and serve it along some grilled chicken or steak.  
 
One of my favorite quinoa side dishes is to cook the quinoa in a low sodium/low fat beef or chicken broth.


Funny you should mention this. I made this salad over the weekend and used a nice broth (mine was veggie) for the cooking liquor for the quinoa and I must say that I won't make it any other way again. The broth added so much flavor and was a real winner, enjoy.
 
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