Always on the lookout for healthy recipes, I found several interesting ones that use quinoa. Quinoa, which is pronounced KEEN-WAH, is a tiny Peruvian seed. Although it resembles couscous and can be served like rice, it is far more nutritious than either; quinoa is packed with all the essential amino acids. I saw this recipe by Martha Rose Shulman last year and have made this tasty and nutritious dish several times. Of course, like everything else I do, I had to tweak it a bit. Attractive mounded on a bed of leafy greens, it serves about six.
Here’s my adaptation of Ms. Shulman’s recipe:
Step 1: Basic Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
3 cups water or stock
1/2 teaspoon salt (just a pinch worked for me)
1. Put quinoa in a mesh sieve and run under cold water to remove a bitter and protective coating on the seeds.
2. Bring the water or stock to a boil and put in quinoa seeds and salt. Bring water to a boil again, cover pot, turn down heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes or until seeds look translucent and tiny curly threads appear.
3. Drain liquid and fluff with fork. Let cool if using for salad.
Note: Cooked quinoa will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
Step 2: Dressing
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 small garlic clove, minced
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste
2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T buttermilk (I used soymilk because that was all I had)
2 teaspoons of sweet soy sauce
Step 3: Salad
3 cups cooked quinoa (use all that was prepared in step 1)
4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced thin
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1-2 cups bay shrimp or as much as desired
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, cayenne, salt, sesame seed oil, canola oil, buttermilk, and sweet soy.
2. In a salad bowl, combine the cooked and cooled quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro. Toss with the dressing. Toss in the shrimp just before serving, so that it does not “cook” in the lime juice.
Here’s to healthy eating!
What about this? 
Thanks for the recipe and the sample. As always, it was delicious. I have a huge bag of quinoa, so I better get cooking!
Thanks for the recipe. Sydney has been trying to eat heathy and wanted me to try quinoa. I had no idea what to do with it. When she is home I will definately give this a try-it sounds great
Ellise – I’ll be posting more recipes for quinoa, especially some that are served warm, so keep checking my blog!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I purchased some Quinoa a while back and it is still sitting in my pantry, so this is perfect. I will definitely make this and give this new ingredient a try. Thank you so much for your incredible insight to living a healthy and joyful life. I love reading your blog and have (hope you don’t mind) shared it with many of my friends, particularly your oatmeal recipe. It appears that so many of my friend’s husbands have cholesterol issues.
Keep writing!!!!
Thanks Rita! Comments such as yours keep me going! I’ll post more healthy recipes, but every now and then I’ll have to include a decadent one! The whole purpose of my blog is to share thoughts and ideas, so feel free to share my blog with all those who might enjoy it! I’ve now added a “Share this Blog with Friends” option in the upper right column of the main page.
More quinoa recipes to come!
Linnell
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