Up to my eyeballs...

... in quinoa! 

So-- now I'm on a kick. Or maybe we should call it a bender? I just finished mixing up the next quinoa recipe and it's also stellar. It should be mentioned that I'm not so sure that this second recipe is "company appropriate" in that it's kind of, well, ugly. Or-- let's be nicer. Messy looking. It is lacking in presentation. 

Or at least mine was. : ) 

That said, it's completely delicious and I've already made myself slightly ill eating too much of it too quickly. I'm not sure that COMPLEX GRAINS are intended to be inhaled. Duly noted. 

As a side note-- holy f-ing-kumquat. I'm not sure if I just haven't had one in a while, or I've never taken the time to truly savor the kumquat, but whoa people! That baby is TART and FANTASTIC. Once you've had one, if you're the sort of lady that likes tart stuff (me), you might feel tempted to eat, say, a dozen, in rapid succession. It's possible this could also account for my slightly unwell sensation, or it could be the combined efforts for too many kumquats and too much quinoa in too little time. (Don't you hate it when that happens.) The perils of decadence! Worth every second. 


Here's the recipe, originally found on the Cooking Light website: (Don't ask how I ended up there...) 

Lies! This is far more beautiful than my quinoa salad ended up looking... 

• 
  

  Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
• 2 teaspoons grated blood orange rind
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salad:
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 cup blood orange sections, chopped (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup diced peeled avocado
• 6 whole kumquats, seeded and sliced
• 2 medium beets, cooked and cut into wedges

Preparation

1. 1. To prepare dressing, combine first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Set aside.
2. 2. To prepare salad, place quinoa in a fine sieve, and place sieve in a large bowl. Cover quinoa with water. Using your hands, rub grains together for 30 seconds; rinse and drain. Repeat procedure twice. Drain well.
3. 3. Combine 1 3/4 cups water, quinoa, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Combine quinoa, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, blood orange sections, avocado, and kumquats in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Add dressing; toss gently to coat salad. Spoon 1 cup salad onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 1/2 cup beets.

If you're interested in a slight variation on this salad, I found another iteration on "The Vintage Mixer" website. I'm going to confess, I feel oddly indignant that they claim this recipe as their own, as it has clearly been nicked from the Cooking Light people, but I'm trying to keep my cool because I'm not lame, and probably have something better to do than troll the internet in pursuit of recipe plagiarism. In her defense, she also came up with this recipe for Sea Scallops with Fresh Cherries & Tarragon, and it looks completely delicious, so I should probably get off her back. 

Man. I can be a b--tch/loser when I've got the inclination.