Monday, May 12, 2008

Green Olive Quinoa Salad

quinoasallad

I've been cooking all morning before work today. We're having a small girl's dinner, and I thought it'd be wise to prepare ahead. I'll be serving Cinnamon Chicken with Orange Cous-cous and Red Onion Apricot Chutney - yum! Dessert: White Chocolate Pannacotta with Blackberries. Sounds good, doesn't it?

I promised you a perfect side dish to go with lamb, and here it is! It comes straight from the lovely book Isabel's Cantina (or well, straight-ish at least) by Isabel Cruz, and it has lovely flavor combinations. The lemon and cumin are perfect together, and with the olives... mmm! I don't even like olives all that much, but in this recipe, they're absolutely perfect. This will also be a great side dish with anything that goes on the grill this summer - I think salmon would be an awesome match.

You can prepare it well in advance if you'd like - it could even stay in the fridge overnight. Very handy!

Green Olive Quinoa Salad
Serves 4

250 ml (1 cup) quinoa, well rinsed
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
150 ml (0,6 cups) green olives, halved
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp cumin
bunch of fresh coriander
salt, pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil, add the well-rinsed quinoa, and boil for 10-12 minutes. Drain it, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onion until it's softened, and then add the red pepper for a few minutes. Add the olives. Mix all these veggies with the cooked quinoa. Stir in the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and coriander. Mix well, and serve at room temperature.

Recipe in Swedish:
Quinoasallad med gröna oliver

7 comments:

Jeanne said...

Mmmm, I'm definitely making this for my best friend who's comign to visit this summer - she's vegan and gluten-free so this is perfect, and it sounds perfectly delicious :)

Vera said...

Sounds delicious, and not just with lamb.
I have some favorite green olives stuffed with lemon, I just have to try them in this recipe!

Ann-Louise said...

Being a vegetarian (who occasionally eats fish) quinoa is brilliant to have in sallads. The combo of lemon & green olives sounds delic! :)

Dagmar said...

It sounds lovely. I'll try this as a side dish to future barbecue evenings!

african vanielje said...

this looks absolutely delicious. I wish I was coming to dinner. I make a lot of quinoa or bulgar wheat salads but tend to throw together the flavours from whatever is on hand. This will be a good one to try. I love green olives and will stick to the recipe, I promise

Lori said...

I have been reading your site for a while now. (Matter of fact you are on my list of favorites). I like all your food. So diverse and always interesting. I particularly like the quinoa salad idea. Have all the ingredients in my frig.

Have you tried red quinoa yet?

Anne said...

I've tried red quinoa when eating out, but I haven't cooked with it myself. I didn't find much of a flavor difference (not with black either) but it sure looks nice :)