As promised earlier this week, here’s a recipe that makes a wonderful accompaniment to my Marinated Tri-tip Steak recipe posted on Tuesday.
A client of mine found this recipe online, and I modified it a bit to suit my tastes. The original recipe calls for raisins; I like currants. I’ve also tried making it—and liked it—with almonds, blueberries, and orange zest.
Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
1-3/4 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds
2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup currants or dried blueberries
1-2 tablespoosn fresh lemon or orange juice
zest of 1 lemon, minced, or 1 tablespoon orange zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Place the quinoa in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add 1-3/4 cups water or chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the liquid is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, about 2 minutes.
Tina’s Tip: Prepare all of the remaining ingredients while the quinoa is cooking.
Meanwhile, toast pine nuts or slivered almonds in a little of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stirring, for about 3 minutes. When they are almost finished, add the garlic for 20-30 seconds, then turn off the heat and add the currants (or dried blueberries) to plump them up a bit, along with the zest.
Fluff quinoa with a fork. Add nuts, garlic, reserved oil, parsley, currants (or berries), juice, and zest. Season with salt and pepper and toss.
Tina’s Tip: As you can see in the photo above, I use a large skillet and add the cooked quinoa to the toasted nut mixture, so as to not dirty another dish. Another option is to toss all of the ingredients into the pan used to cook the quinoa.
Adapted from this Food Network recipe for Quinoa with Garlic, Pine Nuts and Raisins.
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