So it's Thursday night. Farmday Friday is upon us, and we're about to come home with our CSA box full of *amazing* fresh, local, in season fruits, veg and pastured meats from Tara Firma Farms.
I open the fridge and inspect our veg bins to find three beautiful yellow carrots, two leeks, a bunch of bok choy, a nice round, fat green summer squash and some kale. I KNOW WHAT TO DO! I measure one cup of quinoa, place it in a small pot, and dump two cups of water atop the grain and bring to a simmer. Quinoa cooks just like rice, and if you're unfamiliar with it, it has a mild nutty flavor and is packed full with protein!
As the quinoa is cooking, I finely chop the two leeks, discarding their tops in my veggie freezer bag (which is always next to me collecting my scraps as I cook) for stock at a later date.
Leeks go into the saute pan with some homemade lard on a low heat until they caramelize, being stirred every so often so as they don't burn.
On another burner is my cast iron grill pan, loaded up with the summer squash, cut into large, fat coins. A little more lard to keep them from burning to the pan, turned once in a while, and they're good to go.
As those are going on the stove, I finely chop the bok choy, carrots and kale. Into the bowl they go! Followed by a generous fistful of flax seeds (sesame would work also, if you have it!) Next, the quinoa goes into the bowl, followed by the caramelized leeks and finally the grilled squash, all finely chopped. Tonight I topped it off with some goat cheese before adding the salt, pepper and lemon juice. Finally, I added the last plum from our fruit box (why not?!) and topped it all off with some Tabasco. It's delish!
I love these quinoa salads because I throw nearly anything and everything into it and it's so super healthy. I like a good 50-50 grain-veg ratio. The more veg, the better! It's a great way for me to eat my veg when salads get so mundane. They can very easily be prepared vegetarian or vegan and quinoa is gluten free. Plus, it's a great way to clean out the veg bin and make way for all the new yummies! I hope to make a quinoa salad a staple in our house. Very healthy, fresh, delish, filling and can change from week to week so as not to get repetitive. I have to thank my friend Jessi, who first turned me on to these. Thanks, Jess!
I feel a hankering for quinoa, mango, feta and cucumber with some kale. Let's see if I get cucumbers and kale in my box this week!
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