I served the salad and verde with grilled salmon fillets, for leftovers the next day I had canned smoked tuna (even more delicious). Serves 3.
Quinoa Salad
- ½ cup quinoa (rinsed)
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- ½ cauliflower (cut into florets)
- 2 Lebanese/Japanese eggplant (slice in 1 cm rounds)
- ½ green capsicum (1cm cubes)
- 1 Tbles extra virgin olive oil
- A handful of baby spinach
Verde
- ½ bunch coriander (rinsed and chopped)
- 1 Tbls capers (rinsed)
- 2 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 Tbls lemon juice
- 1 teas lemon zest
- 2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Set oven to 180° Celsius.
- Put the verde ingredients together in a blender or mortar/pestle and combine until it resembles a paste, season with salt and pepper – allow flavours to develop.
- Put quinoa and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil, put the lid on and reduce to a low simmer, cook for approximately 15 minutes. The stock should be absorbed and quinoa transparent.
- Toss cauliflower, eggplant and capsicum in the oil and season; spread onto a baking dish. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes until brown yet firm.
- Mix the cooked quinoa, roasted vegetables and spinach together, serve with grilled salmon and top with a couple of tablespoons of verde.
Note: this recipe is very flexible, you can substitute any of the vegetables; you can also change the verde to suit as well. For example a pesto style goes with chicken, while olive, fetta and mint verde works with lamb.
By: Melisa Hockey