Quinoa Salad

Name: Quinoa Salad
Total time: 3000 s
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1/2 cup quinoa; 1 large beef tomato, slightly green; 5 large sticks of celery; 5-6 large radishes or 10 -12 small radishes; 1 raw chilli; 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley or 1 small herb packet from supermar; 1/2 bunch coriander or 1 small herb packet from supermarket; 1/3 bunch fresh mint or 1 small herb packet from supermarket; 1 whole squeezed ripe lemon; 1 tablespoon cumin powder; Olive oil; Hot sauce (optional)

Bluesy76 @cook_4863293

London

I've been making this salad for years and each time it tastes a little different. The proportion and ripeness of the ingredients, the method of chopping and the dressing all have an effect.

The preparation is quite tedious but you end up with a refreshing, tasty salad that is also very versatile and healthy. You can have it alone or as an accompaniment to grilled chicken or meat. It's also a suitable short term alternative to chimi-churri.

The quantities of the herbs are a bit hard to pin down because they're sold in different sizes. If you're lucky enough to obtain a proper large bunch from a grocer then you only want to be using half a bunch of each herb (a bit less of mint). If you can only buy those small bags of herbs from the supermarket then use their entire contents.

I've been making this salad for years and each time it tastes a little different. The proportion and ripeness of the ingredients, the method of chopping and the dressing all have an effect.

Bluesy76 @cook_4863293

London

I've been making this salad for years and each time it tastes a little different. The proportion and ripeness of the ingredients, the method of chopping and the dressing all have an effect.

Saved

Ingredients

50 mins

4 servings

1/2 cupquinoa
1large beef tomato, slightly green
5large sticks of celery
5-6large radishes or 10 -12 small radishes
1raw chilli
1/2 bunchflat leaf parsley or 1 small herb packet from supermar
1/2 bunchcoriander or 1 small herb packet from supermarket
1/3 bunchfresh mint or 1 small herb packet from supermarket
1whole squeezed ripe lemon
1 tablespooncumin powder
Olive oil
Hot sauce (optional)

Saved

Steps

50 mins

1

Chop the ends off the celery sticks - the white bit at the bottom and the top part with the leaves. Wash the tomato, chilli, radishes and celery stalks with cold water and leave aside
2

Place the quinoa in boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes or when soft. Rinse with cold water until cool and leave to drain
3

Separate the parsley and coriander leaves from the stems and chop the leaves very, very fine. Place in a bowl of cold water
4

Do the same for the mint leaves but chop half as finely as they have a tendency to dry up. Place the chopped mint leaves together with the parsley and coriander in the bowl of water
5

Remove the chopped herbs from the bowl of water with your hands a fistful at a time and drop in a sieve. Only pick up the bits floating in the water. Leave to drain thoroughly
6

Chop the tomato into very fine cubes and place in a large salad bowl. Before placing into the bowl, squeeze the excess juice out of the tomato
7

Chop the chilli, radishes and celery sticks - again, very very fine - and add to the bowl with the tomato. Make sure that there is no excess water. You may need to tip the bowl to remove any water leftover
8

Add just a few dashes of salt, the cumin powder and the lemon juice to the salad bowl and mix
9

Ensuring the herbs are well-drained, add these to the salad bowl, then the quinoa, a generous amount of olive oil and mix together
10

As a final option, you can add a couple of drops of your choice of hot sauce to the salad. Don't add anything too vinegary like Tabasco or anything with added flavour or you'll ruin it. I like to use American hot sauces like Blair's After Death or Dave's Insanity. If in doubt, try a little bit set aside to make sure you're happy with it.
11

Serve immediately or store in the fridge covered with cling film for later use