So here we go with post number two!
I'm enjoying exposing Dave to new foods, and one of those news foods has been quinoa. I've made it for him a few different ways so far; curried quinoa, quinoa with sweet potatoes, quinoa with black beans, corn and avocado. Since i just got some tricolored quinoa, I wanted to make something to showcase all those colors, as well as something that i hadn't made for him before.
Well whats more colorful than fruit!!!!
So that was that, and I decided on a quinoa fruit salad dressed with a honey, ginger, and lime dressing! Are you drooling yet? For the fruit, you can really pick whatever you want. I used a little of everything we had in the house. Strawberries, peaches, green apples, and blueberries.
While I was dicing, I remembered about the sweet corn that we had just picked up and thought what a wonderful addition this would be!! Now when I say sweet corn, I mean sweet summer corn. The kind that you can eat raw and it tastes like candy! I never knew this awesomeness until about a 9 months ago when my friend Jessica, her baby girl, and I were strolling through the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and one of the farmers there handed us a half an ear of corn and told us to try it. We both looked at each other, and I told her to go first. In my head, all I was imagining was that bitterness of uncooked corn. I was hesitant. But I trust her tastebuds, and she assured me that it was good. I bit in... and my goodness. I was in love. We both bought some and if I remember correctly, both our stashes were gone by the next day. I went back and bought more and would even pack them in Bowie's lunches. He loved them as well. Then a few weeks later, they were gone!! Sweet corn season was over. How cold this be? I'd only just acquired the knowledge of its raw delicious crispness and I was told I'd have to wait til the following May for more. It was a rough year of waiting for sweet corn season again. No, wait, that's not right. It was rough waiting for Dave to get home from deployment. It was torture waiting for sweet corn season. It just so happens both things were happening in May. Ha. I digress. The point of the above tangent, if you don't have access to the type of sweet corn that I am referring to, don't bother.
Back to the recipe. Prepare your quinoa according to directions. Which are almost always 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa. For today's adventure, I just did half a cup of quinoa since it was just gonna be Dave and I eating it. While the quinoa was cooking, I prepared the dressing.
Simple, but creates quite a complex flavor. Honey, lime, and some fresh grated ginger. Note, the recipe below has my starting measures. I did tinker with it a little bit to get it EXACTLY how I wanted it. Use caution with the ginger, it really brings out the citrus of the lime, so I added more honey as I wanted that to be a forefront tone for the palette as far as the dressing was concerned.
Oh and if you don't have one of these lime squeezer do-hickeys... get one! Dave brought me it home one day from the store when I was making a key lime pie.
So after the dressing is done, mix it into the quinoa until coated. Then add the fruit in.
Stir.
And, viola. Oh and as if thats not the tasty enough, I got crazy and did THIS:
Added Point Reyes blue cheese on top!! That is a whole lotta flavor explosion right there!!
QUINOA FRUIT SALAD
1/2 Cup quinoa
1 Cup water
1 1/2 Cups strawberries
1 1/2 Peaches
1 Granny smith apple
1/2 An ear of sweet corn raw (see note above)
Boil water (add salt if desired)
Add quinoa. Cover and lower heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Until water is absorbed.
Let quinoa cool to room temperature.
In the meantime, cut fruit and prepare dressing.
HONEY GINGER LIME DRESSING
Juice from one lime
3-4 Tbls honey
1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
Combine.
Once quinoa cools, add dressing, then add fruit and toss. That's all.
We had this with some turkey burgers that Dave threw on the grill. Very good!
Oh and you might notice that the recipe only states that I used 1 1/2 peaches. Curious what I did with the other half of the peach?
I gave Mr. P his first taste of sweet sweet peaches! Cuz what kind of southern boy would I be raising if he didn't like peaches?!
Til Next Time,
Geneva
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