Unrecipe: Quinoa Salad with Arugula

20 August 2009 ~ 0 Comments

Unrecipe: Quinoa Salad with Arugula

recipes

When I’m out at a restaurant or market with a prepared foods counter, I look for dishes that look simple enough to prepare at home.

While at Whole Foods Market in Tribeca, the “Our Kitchen” counter offered a salad of spinach, artichokes, and roasted red peppers. It didn’t look all that special to me, but I asked for a sample anyway.

I was right: It wasn’t all that special, but it inspired me enough to think about how I could make it better.

Original Version:

Baby Spinach
Artichokes
Roasted Red Peppers
Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

My Version:
Quinoa
Arugula
Artichokes
Roasted Red Peppers
Red Wine Vine Vinegar
Basil infused Olive Oil
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper or Black Pepper

There are no measurements here because I don’t measure ingredients when cooking. This also means that I don’t follow recipes to the letter, which might explain why my falafel batter is too wet, and my hummus too lemony.

I grew up in a house where cooking was more parts intuition, knowing how things “should” taste and “eyeballing”, so the only thing I can offer with regard to the proportions is this: the salad is correctly proportioned when you feel the ratio of quinoa, arugula, artichokes, and red peppers are visually balanced. The arugula will wilt as it absorbs the oil and vinegar, so you can compensate by adding more arugula than you think you’ll need.

As for the dressings – those are more about personal taste, but go easy on the oil and vinegar – you don’t want a “wet” or too oily salad.

Because this is supposed to be an “easy” recipe – you are allowed to take shortcuts.

- Purchase baby or wild arugula, because they are small and don’t require chopping.
- Look for prepared artichokes and roasted red peppers (jarred, not canned), as you can just drain off the oil, chop to desired size, and throw into the bowl.
- If you soak the quinoa for a few hours to overnight, you can cook it up in no time. The longer you soak it, the less time it needs to boil.
- Use what you have. If you don’t have crushed red pepper, basil infused olive oil, or red wine vinegar – black pepper, regular olive oil, apple cider or balsamic vinegar will work just fine. Just add a little at a time and taste as you go along.

This recipe took no more than 30 minutes (not counting the overnight soaking) to prepare.

While the quinoa is boiling, the roasted reppers and artichokes are being roughly chopped, everything is tossed into a bowl with dressings and seasonings added to taste. And lastly, allow the flavors to set about 10 minutes or so before serving.

I thought I had taken a photo of it, but since I can’t find it, this photo will have to do.

Do you have a recipe you’ve “reinvented”?

Feel free to link to your blog or website.