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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Quinoa, Asparagus and Shitake Salad

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This is the type of dish I cook for myself often. It normally involves vegetables, nuts, sometimes mushrooms, green leaves and dry fruits. All mixed with some sort of grain or pasta that pulls it all together, on this case, quinoa. I didn't use any leaves here but I named it salad because I really didn't have a better word for it. This dish can be a main meal (for me it normally is) or a side. It tastes great warm or at room temperature, which means it can be made in advance. It's a great healthy lunch box option.

I used dried sliced shitake mushrooms here because they cook quicker than whole ones, but that would be fine too, and of course you can always substitute fresh ones. I always have dried shitake in my pantry so I can add them to soups, salads, pastas and rice dishes.  Remember to save the water that you soak the mushrooms in to add to the quinoa cooking liquid. I chose to grill the asparagus, but roasting works just as well.

 

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Quinoa, Asparagus and Shitake Salad Recipe:

serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish

 

You will need:

 

2/3 cups of uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup dried sliced shitake mushrooms

1 tablespoon of dried cranberries

1/3 cup of hazelnuts

10 asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed

1 lemon - zest and juice

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

 

Soak the mushrooms in 2/3 cup of very hot water for about 10 minutes. Place mushrooms with it's liquid, quinoa and 2/3 cups of water in a medium  pan and bring it to a boil. Add the cranberries, reduce heat and cook with a lid on until quinoa is cooked and the liquid is evaporated, about 15 minutes.  Transfer it to a bowl and set aside.

Roast the hazelnuts in a medium oven (350) for about 10 minutes. Remove most of the skins by rubbing the nuts in a piece of kitchen towel. Roughly chop it and add to the quinoa bowl.

While quinoa is cooking, season asparagus with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. Grill them until they have charred marks, but are still firm and crunchy, about 5 minutes. Cut asparagus into bite size pieces and add to the quinoa bowl.

Make a simple lemon dressing with the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Add lemon zest to quinoa bowl, pour lemon dressing over it and stir. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy it!

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am going to try this one out! It looks yummy!

lauralop said...

this recipe looks like it was meant for me. all my favorite things! thanks for posting it.

Hayley said...

This looks so healthy and tasty! Your pictures keep getting better and better. Thanks for sharing!

pigpigscorner said...

Sounds delicious with cranberries and nuts! I've been seeing a lot of quinoa dishes lately, would love to give it a try too!

test it comm said...

This is my kind of salad! I really like using quinoa in salads like this.

Jennifer said...

I LOVE quinoa salads! I am going to have to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing.

Rita said...

blueberrysea - thanks, try it out!

lauralop - maybe it was posted for you! I am glad you like it.

Hayley - thanks so much.

pigpigscorner- quinoa is delicious and easy to make too.

Kevin- it's my kind of salad too.

Jennifer - this one os delicious, try it.

Swone said...

This highly rated recipe was given to me from a coworker. Just wondered if anyone has added garlic to the lemon/olive oil dressing?
I am preparing this as I type....will post an update when done!

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