This is my kind of salad. I’ve written before about how awesome grain salads are as a go-to lunch option in the warmer months. I like big batches of things. Soups in the winter, salads in the summer. It’s easy.
Usually my grain salads lean towards Mediterranean flavours but this one has a Mexican spin. Black beans, avocado, cilantro, and a cumin-lime dressing all lend it that character. The cherry tomatoes I just couldn’t resist adding for a pop of juice and the red pepper adds sweetness and crunch.
Make this up on a Sunday afternoon and eat it through the week for lunches, you know, when it’s 100F (38C) outside (really, Minneapolis?). Corn tortilla chips on the side are optional but definitely recommended. Same with a Mexican beer. Yum.
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing
serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
- 1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 avocado, chopped into chunks
- handful cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into chunks
- small handful cilantro, diced
- 1 limes, juiced
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- salt, to taste
Directions
- Warm the olive/coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for about 2-3 minutes until it starts smelling nutty and lovely. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all other ingredients. Prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Whisk it aggressively. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
- When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Add black beans and toss to warm them through.
- Let the quinoa cool for about five minutes and then add all the remaining ingredients, including the dressing, and mix. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with tortilla chips and a refreshing, cold beer.
I love this kind of salad. It’s my favourite kind to make when people are coming over or to take to a party or pot luck. Why? Because you can choose from so many different grains and so many different flavour/ingredient combos that it’s like a never-ending new dish, except that the idea is totally recycled. Don’t believe me? See here, here, and here.
This particular salad has several winning features. Roasted cherry tomatoes a) look adorable and rustic, and b) add pops of sweetness to every bite. The red onion, caramelised in balsamic vinegar and sugar add even more flavour pow! and compliment the tomatoes ever so well. Then finally the mint does it’s job alongside the spinach adding green, along with a glorious scent and a even more taste explosions.
Take it to your next picnic, pot luck, or… book club. Heck, just make it for dinner.
Roasted Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz quinoa (1 1/4 cups)
- olive oil
- 14-oz vegetable broth/stock (1 3/4 cups)
- 3/4 cup water
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 handfuls spinach
- 1 bunch mint, chopped
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
For the onions:
- 2 small red onions, finely sliced
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Directions
- Start with the tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 350F. Slice the tomatoes in half and put on a large baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt, a twist of black pepper and a pinch of brown sugar. Stir well, making sure all the tomatoes are cut side up and roast for 40 minutes until shriveled and golden.
- Cook the quinoa: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add quinoa and cook, stirring until well coated with oil, 2 minutes. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
- While quinoa is cooking, onto the onions: Heat a large frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil, add the onions and cook on low until completely soft. Add the balsamic vinegar, sugar and plenty of seasoning and cook for another 5 mins or so until dark, sweet and sticky.
- To assemble the salad, squeeze the lemon juice over the quinoa and add 2-3 tbsp olive oil, the garlic and most of the mint and parsley. Stir well and season to taste.
- Fold in the spinach and tumble onto a large serving platter. Top with roasted tomatoes, onions and the rest of the herbs.
Top tip: Cook the quinoa a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. Bring back to room temperature before assembling rest of salad and serving. But note that the spinach won’t wilt if you do it this way.
This is starting to become a staple in the Eating for England household and I’m so excited to share it with you for that reason. I’d like to share more of our “normal” meals with you and not just the ones that I go round-the-bend with excitement for. I found this in my favourite cookbook one night when we were seriously limited on groceries and I knew I’d have to delve deep into the pantry to come up with anything good.
It’s a simple Middle Eastern recipe and it’s the kind of thing that is so easy to throw together in a pinch that you’ll be sorry you didn’t hear about it or think of it til now. The three main ingredients are in the name: it’s literally rice and french lentils, lovingly and slowly cooked together in some deliciously flavourful broth and topped with perfectly carmelised onions. For the record, I am not a caramelised onion fan and I die for them in this dish. Die.
Cook up a big pot this weekend and it will serve you well for warming, delicious, healthy lunches all week long. I promise you won’t regret it for a second.
Lentils and Rice with Caramelised Onions
from How to Cook Everything
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped, plus 1 large or 2 medium onions, halved and sliced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups lentils, washed and picked over
- About 6 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock (to make your own, see here) or water, warmed
- 1 cup long- or short-grain rice
- Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish (no big deal if you don’t have any. I served this batch with steamed spinach!)
Directions
- Put 1 tbsp of the oil into a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and cook until it begins to become tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and some salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes more. Add the lentils, stir, and add about 4 cups liquid.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils begin to soften, about 20 minutes. Add enough of the stock or water so that the lentils are covered by about an inch of liquid. Stir in the rice. Cover and turn the heat to low.
- Meanwhile, put the remaining two tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, cook the onion slices, stirring frequently, until they are dark brown but not burned, about 15 minutes. Scoop out the onions and let the drain on a paper towel while you finish cooking the lentils and rice.
- Check the rice and lentils after 20 minutes. When both are tender and the liquid are absorbed, the dish is ready. If the lentils and rice are not tender, add more liquid, cover, and cook for a few ore minutes. If the rice and lentils are soft and there is much liquid remaining raise the heat and cook, uncovered, stirring, until it evaporates. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve, garnished with the caramelised onions and parsley.
