Wednesday 1 April 2009

rose bakery's quinoa and pepper salad

When i first started reading Breakfast Lunch Tea i was lusting after all the cakes and sweet things but as i'm trying to be healthy this week, the cakes will have to wait until the weekend!

So i made up a batch of this delicious salad instead to take into work for my lunches.

Rose Bakery's Quinoa and Pepper Salad - serves 6
170g (1 cup) quinoa
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red, 1 green and 1 yellow pepper (bell pepper), finely diced
2 medium onions, finely diced
1 courgette (zucchini), finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 dried red pepper (bell pepper), crushed
pinch of cumin (optional)
dash of lemon juice (optional)
chopped fresh parsley or coriander (cilantro) to garnish

Put the quinoa in a saucepan with 500ml (2 cups) water and a pinch of salt.

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 15 mins, until the quinoa is soft and the water has been absorbed. Set aside.

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the peppers, onions and courgette over a medium heat with a pinch each of salt and pepper, add the garlic and dried red pepper.

Keep stirring unitl the mixture just begins to turn soft - the vegetables must not soften too much - and the colours blend into the oil.

Check the seasoning (adding a little cumin or lemon juice if you wish).

Pour the sauce into the quinoa and mix well.

Garnish with parsley or coriander and serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature.


I've been enjoying it with some salad leaves, avocado and feta cheese - who says healthy needs to be boring?

4 comments:

Biba said...

This looks delicious. I've actually had a packet of Quinoa in the cupboard for months (years?) but never had any inspiration for making anything with it... until now! Thanks will definitely try this! x

Marsi @ The Cottage Cheese said...

Yum yum! It's beautiful little summer-y plate you've made. I've never made quinoa before, but I will have to try this. We have a farm stand just down the road that always stocks peppers - they are about 1/3 the cost of the grocery store. I buy several every week, so I've been looking for new ways to use peppers.

Sixpence and A Blue Moon said...

This looks delicious! My kind of eating. For sure, I will be making this one.

Thanks so much, you have given me an idea for the weekend. I can eat avacodo any time.

Your photo is beautiful!

Melafrique said...

will definitely try this one out. i like feta cheese and avocado. When i was growing up my mum had two avocado trees.