Avocado Salad with Quinoa

Quinoa is all the rage these days, and no wonder - according to HuffPo, it is high in protein, low in calories, and gluten free. It's also kind of expensive, I bought 1.5lbs for $17. I think you could get a metric ton of rice for $17. But apart from all the health benefits, it just tastes really yummy - and I find it is easier to cook than rice. Plus rice doesn't go well in a cold salad.

Anyway, SO found this and emailed me the recipe. "So what are we having with the salad?" I asked. "It will be hearty, we don't need anything else" she responded. Hmmm, we'll see about that. It took surprisingly long to prepare, but it was just chopping cooking the quinoa. I mixed all the ingredients together while I stuck the pot of quinoa in the garage to cool down. Looks good already!

The salad, before adding the quinoa. Looks colourful and tasty!

I was impatient, it was 6pm and the quinoa was taking forever to cool down even in a -10 degrees garage. I transfered it to a bowl and stirred it a few times, finally got it to luke warm temperature. So I got a bed of spinach down on the plates, sliced some lemon, got the sprigs of parsley out, and then mixed the quinoa. Just for effect, packed it in a bowl to shape it like they did in the recipe. And WOW was it delish! I think SSO hated it as much as we liked it. Well, he's nine so what do you expect.

Avocado Salad with Quinoa

Next Time: nothing

Me: 10/10
SO: 10/10
SSO: 1/10

Avocado Salad with Quinoa
Ingredients

• 2C of quinoa - cook according to package directions (it will double to 4C)
• a couple avocados, cubed
• a whole English cuke, cubed
• 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, cubed
• a large handful of fresh basil, chopped
• a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• sprinkle of kosher salt
• bag of spinach or other salad greens

For the dressing:

• juice from half a lemon
• 1 Tbsp mayo
• 2 tsp honey
• small handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 C olive oil
• freshly ground salt and pepper

Method

1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Transfer to a dish to cool, mixing it occasionally to speed up the process.
2. While the quinoa is cooking/cooling, prepare all the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
3. Process the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor, and mix into the salad ingredients.
4. When the quinoa is cooled sufficiently, gently mix into the salad. 
5. Serve on a bed of spinach or greens, with lemon on the side. The salad is moist enough that you can form it in a small bowl and invert on the plate.