quinoa salad (also known as “red, white, and blueberry salad” on July 4th)
serves 4
2/3 cup of red quinoa
2 cups of blueberries
4-6 oz. of blue cheese, cut into small cubes
2-3 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped
dressing
4 tbsp blueberry vinegar
1 tbsp walnut oil
dash of salt and pepper
Soak the quinoa in some cold water to rinse off some of its natural bitterness. Start cooking the quinoa. In the meantime, mix the dressing together and set aside. Cut the blue cheese, mint and place this in with all the blueberries into a large bowl. Once you drain the quinoa, cool it off till it is slightly warm and pour the blueberry vinagreitte and mix that through. Let the quinoa cool down some more before mixing it with the cheese, blueberries and mint (otherwise your blue cheese will melt.)
A word of caution: this salad is phenomenally addicting. This would make a unique picnic salad and pairs really well with barbecued anything. This past July 4th weekend, I had this salad with Olive’s special veal and sirloin coriander burgers topped with his barbecue habanero sauce.
Related posts:
- blue corn tortillas, reincarnated
- breakfast of warriors
- coriander crusted salmon with tahini sauce and heirloom tomato quinoa salad
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Consider me impressed with the wild pairing of ingredients! I love blueberries, almost obsessively, as Olive does. I am a big quinoa fan as well (though I have only seen tan; does red taste different?). Have to confess, since my “passionate about Roquefort” husband is not looking over my shoulder, that blue cheese is not my favorite. I like it in very small doses only. But… I am intrigued by this dish. Might have to test it out. Meanwhile, I am also wishing for a trip to the farms for berry picking, but fear I won’t have time until the season’s over. Anyway… kudos for another interesting post!
Red is a bit more nutty than the regular yellow quinoa. I really love the red—for it’s color and flavor. If you’re not a fan of blue cheese, I think if you add enough just as an accent (it is so strong!), you’ll get the same effect for the salad. I hope you try it!