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Quinoa and Grain Salad

Sunday, February 17, 2013 15:52

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It’s been crazy with a new semester having started a few days after my last post, so here’s a quick recipe in the meanwhile.

This is a complete protein salad and can be made with any grain, except maybe amaranth—which is a bit small. I haven’t tried it with millet either, but I don’t think that would be a problem. Just prepare each grain separately, according to proper cooking directions and try not to make the salad with more than 3 cups of dry grain—otherwise you’ll have enough for an army.

It can also be served warm or cold, and has many variations—depending on the herb, vinegar, or grain you use. If you have fresh herbs, particularly now as summer grinds to an end, the taste range is virtually endless. But, I’d also consider this a nice autumn or even winter salad since you can keep the majority of the ingredients on hand in dry storage. If you have dried or pickled peppers and onions on hand in your supply, which we all do, those can be substituted in a pinch for the fresh ingredients when fresh isn’t in season. Or you can also replace the fresh peppers with sundried tomatoes, and honestly, even in the depth of winter who doesn’t have an onion on hand? You can use any onion, but be aware white and yellow onions would be stronger than the below recipe’s Vidalia and red, so use one small white or medium yellow instead of the recipe’s two. And, when using dried herbs, use a tad less as they’re more potent.

1 cup of red quinoa, uncooked
1 cup of pearl barley, uncooked
1 cup of wheat berries, uncooked
2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1 medium-small Vidalia onion, minced
1 medium-small red onion, minced
1 small orange bell pepper, minced (or ½ large)
1 small red bell pepper, minced (or ½ large)
2 ribs of celery, minced
2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped (or lemon thyme, or rosemary, or sage, or thyme, or….)
Red wine vinegar, to taste (about ¼ cup)
Zest from 1 large, or 2 small lemons, finely grated
Juice from 1 lemon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ to ½ cup white raisins
½ cup raw almonds
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 tsp honey

Into separate pots, sort (pick out any funky bits) and rinse your grain. Cook each separately, since each one has radically different cooking times.
Barley—sort, rinse, and drain your barley. Put into a heavy-bottom 4 quart pot with ¼ tsp salt and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, covered. Once boiled, remove cover, reduce heat to low and cook uncovered until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. If barley is tender before liquid is absorbed, you can drain the excess water. It takes 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.
Quinoa—again, sort, rinse and drain your quinoa. Put into a heavy-bottom 3 quart pot with ¼ tsp salt and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and uncover pot as above. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom. If water is absorbed too quickly, it means you have the heat too high; add a little more. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.
Wheat Berries—sort, rinse, and drain your wheat berries, also called Spelt. Put into a heavy, bottomed 4 quart pot. Many recipes call for soaking the berries overnight, but this recipe works just as well— if not better—just extending the cooking time a bit. I prefer this method, since the wheat berries are chewier. Add ¼ tsp salt, bring to a boil—covered. Once boiled, reduce heat, uncover, and simmer on low until tender and chewy. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn, which will happen if the water evaporates before it can be absorbed. Add more water—1/2 cup at a time—if this happens. Begin tasting after 45 minutes. If you get the desired consistency and there’s still water in the pot, just drain it off. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.
While the grains are cooking, prepare your vegetables and place them in a large mixing bowl.
Add the herbs, grain, vinegar, lemon zest, raisins, almonds and olive oil
Into a separate small container, juice your lemon. Remove any seeds and add to the bowl. Add about 1 tsp kosher salt and black pepper.
Mix thoroughly but gently.
Adjust seasonings and allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour for the flavors to develop.

Variations:

Spicy Black Bean—remove almonds, dill, and raisins from the recipe. Add 1 can (15 ounce) of black beans. I prefer using canned beans for salads as opposed to dried because the dry beans tend to fall apart by the time they reach the tenderness I like for the salad. Also add, 1 cup of sweet corn. I prefer using either raw sweet corn, freshly removed from the cob, or corn that’s been grilled and removed from the cob. You can use canned corn if you don’t have fresh, just don’t use frozen as it may add too much water to the salad. Add 1 minced jalapeño or habañero pepper—depending on how hot you like it. Add the zest and the juice of 2 limes, 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional), and 2 tbsp freshly ground cumin seed.
Try using fresh lemon thyme in place of the dill.

Try black raisins and walnuts or dried cranberries and walnuts as another variation.
Use multigrain rice in place of the barley, or use half barley, half multigrain rice.
Pesto—Replace the dill with fresh thyme, oregano, and lots of basil. Mince the oregano fine, leave the thyme whole but remove the stems, and loosely tear the basil. Use black raisins and walnuts instead of the white raisins and the almonds. Add 2 tbsp of pine nuts and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar (optional). Try grating some parmesan or Romano cheese for an added kick and cut back the salt by half.

2013-02-16 08:00:35

Source: http://www.green-and-growing.com/2012/09/quinoa-and-grain-salad.html

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