We house sat for someone with a nice BBQ last week, so I got excited about a) being able to grill things, and b) making side dishes to go with grilled things. We're moving soon so I'm trying to use whatever food I already have in my fridge and pantry, which can lead to some of the best food.
I have to say, I think I struck gold with this one. It has a lot of flavors playing off of each other, and they seemed to work well - I made a big bowl of this, and despite the excessiveness of the food we cooked, there was none of this left at the end of the night. Of course you can vary it however you like, but I think the toasted almonds are key (and so much better than raw). I just toasted mine myself in my toaster oven, and it made my whole apartment smell heavenly.
Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
juice and zest from half an orange (or as much as you want, depending on how orange-y you want it to taste)
1.5 cups dry quinoa
several handfuls of arugula, chopped a bit
1 cup dry toasted almonds, either whole or cut in half
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (or more if you love feta)
bunch of mint, finely chopped
salt, to taste
First cook the quinoa - as I mentioned before, I like to do mine in my rice cooker (follow the instructions for white rice, but use a little bit more water). You can do this earlier in the day and put it in the fridge for awhile - the salad is better when the quinoa is cold.
Mix the olive oil, garlic, and orange juice in a small bowl and whisk it well. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, arugula, almonds, cheese, and mint. Then pour on the dressing and mix it up. It will probably want some salt - I tend to comply, generously.
No comments:
Post a Comment