quinoa salad as made for work pot lunch last week

and then emailed to the all-staff list, where i garnered as many compliments for my recipe writing style as for the salad itself.

I totally forgot that I promised to write out my recipe for quinoa salad! here is less of a recipe and more of an idea:

quinoa is probably in the health food or the gluten free section of the supermarket. You can get red, black or white quinoa - you cook them the same, they taste the same, the colour is the only difference. it is technically a seed I think? from south america? it is full of protein and I usually eat it cold but it is perfectly nice warm too. it is pronounced "keen-wa" because it is a trick.

You ought to rinse it before you cook it (apparently it can be bitter otherwise?). I sometimes cook it in the rice cooker (cause then I don't have to worry about it being done, and turning off the heat) or else just in a saucepan. Three cups of water for every cup of quinoa, bring it to the boil, turn it down & simmer for about 15 minutes - it probably says this on the packet. I usually add stock powder so that it's cooked in vegie stock rather than plain water but plain water is fine. I like to put a handful of sultanas in the saucepan too, towards the end.

It expands a little when cooking so 1 cup of quinoa (with plenty of other salad-y bits in) is enough for three giant lunches, which is the way I like my lunch, or one big bowl for a potluck.

Dress it while it's still warm with some olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon or lime or orange juice if you like, salt & pepper, and put it in the fridge until lunchtime/time to make your lunch & go to work.

Then add the salad-y bits. I like a couple of chopped tomatoes, some red capsicum, a grated carrot and some flat leaf parsley. Segments of orange or mandarin are tasty in this; toasted cashews maybe; spring onions or red onion; dried apricots; a can of chickpeas or black beans - anything you might put in any other salad. And then everyone at work will admire your colourful healthy delicious lunch.