summery gluten-free "couscous" salad

Summer is almost over, although it certainly doesn't feel like it in this part of the world. There is still time for barbecues and summer salads. When I don't know what to make for dinner, I often resort to quinoa. Many people have told me they don't like the taste of it, yet it is such a super food and it can be so versatile! You just have to dress it up :)

Quinoa is gluten-free, rich in fiber, and not only is it rich in protein, but it is a complete protein. This means you don't have to combine it with beans, like you would with rice, to obtain and consume all the amino-acids of a full protein. It has them all!
For a more complete article about quinoa, with a bonus breakfast recipe, click here

Here is one example of a "couscous" salad, which is dressed with plenty of crunch and zest and spice:


3 cups cooked quinoa (if you have time, soak your quinoa in water for 12 hours before cooking it. Then add 1 cup water for 2 cups quinoa. It will cook super quickly and will be much more digestible)
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shredded celeri
2 cups sliced cucumber
1 cup sliced green olives
1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped herbs, such as basil, parsley, mint, lemon thyme

Mix all the ingredients and toss with your favorite salad dressing. My favorite with this salad is something citrusy, like lemon juice, mustard, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Crunchy Quinoa and Kale Salad with Tarragon dressing

A couple weeks ago, my son had a celebratory event at his school, which happens twice a year. Our ritual, over the past two years, has been to go eat out afterwards, to celebrate him, his learning and his progress. This year, we ended there late and were running out of time, so we decided to go to Whole Foods. I love their salad bar and always browse it, even if I don't buy anything, just to get inspired. And sure enough, there was this salad that I HAD to replicate. It was crunchy, which I love, fresh, and had two of my favorite ingredients: kale and quinoa!
I made it at home a few days later, and it didn't quite taste the same, so I tried to make a fancy dressing to go with it and the result was pretty nice. Tarragon is not an herb that I have used much, but I LOVE it. It has a unique, refreshing taste and I love it in salads. 
When I made the salad again for a friend, I took pictures of it, brought it to her house, added some avocado on top and sprouted beans on the side for added protein, only to realize the next day, as I opened my fridge, that I had totally forgotten to put one of the main ingredients in the salad: celery. So the picture doesn't reflect exactly what the salad looks like, but just use your imagination and add celery to that mental picture :)

The good news about this salad is that you can find all the ingredients at Trader Joe's, which now sells ORGANIC dino kale, one of my favorites! So get in the kitchen and try it, it's so easy!

Salad:

1 bunch of dinosaur (lacinato) kale, chopped finely
3-4 cups cooked quinoa
10 stems celery, chopped finely
3 apples, chopped in cubes
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans

Mix all the ingredients in a big salad bowl

Dressing:
1/3 cup cashews
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fresh tarragon
1/3 cup water
1 shallot
1/2 tsp herbamare or sea salt
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup

Put all the ingredients in a small blender and blend until you obtain a creamy texture.





Pour the dressing onto the salad ingredients and mix thoroughly. Let it sit for an hour before serving (preferably) so the kale can soften with the dressing. This salads keeps well in a closed container in the fridge for about 3 days.

Mexican Quinoa Salad

With Easter Sunday coming up, and Spring in full swing, I'm feeling like cooking and eating some refreshing and exotic salads. Since we're having a potluck with friends, I thought I would make one of my most popular quinoa salads. I can't take credit for the recipe, and I owe my sister-in-law for introducing it on her blog a couple years ago, but ever since then, it has been a huge hit in our family and with our friends.

The original recipe can be found here but I have never made it the original way. I've made a few changes to it, and it has turned out absolutely wonderful. This is a surprising, exotic, with subtle and unexpected flavors, quinoa salad. Give it a try!

I translated the ingredients into french right next to the english words. (traduction francaise entre parenthese).

3 cups cooked quinoa (3 tasses de quinoa cuite)
1 can black beans, rinsed (1 boite de haricots noirs, rinces)
2 avocados, cut in cubes (2 avocats, coupes en cubes)
2 mangoes, cut in cubes, or 2+cups of frozen mango (mangues, coupees en cubes)
2 red bell peppers, chopped in sticks or little cubes (2 poivrons rouges, coupes en lamelles ou petits cubes)
1/2 purple onion, cut in slices (1/2 oignon violet, coupe en lamelles)
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped (1 bouquet de coriandre frais, hache fin)

dressing:
juice of 3 lemons (jus de trois citrons)
2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil (2 cs. d'huile d'olive)
1tsp coriander (1 cc. de coriandre moulu)
1tsp curry (1 cs de curry)
1/2 tsp turmeric (1/2 cc de curcuma)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (1/2 cc de cannelle)
Salt to taste (sel a volonte)

Mix all the ingredients with the dressing and enjoy! Feel free to add more cinnamon or curry, depending on your taste. You can also try it with limes instead of lemons, for a change of taste.

Happy Easter everyone!

Kale and quinoa salad

You've probably heard of these two foods as the new cool thing to eat. Everybody talks about or eats kale these days, and quinoa is also something that has become more and more popular over the last couple of years. Yet I keep hearing the same question about both ingredients: but how do you cook it?


I've also heard comments such as "it's too chewy raw, too bitter cooked" or "it tastes like dirt" or "it's too bland". Kale and quinoa being two of my most favorite foods to eat, I am excited to share this simple recipe, which I one day randomly put together. I liked it so much that I decided to make it again and again.


The quantities for the salad ingredients can be changed, as in, you can add more or put less of any of the ingredients, but this will give you a basic idea. For the dressing, you can replace the limes with lemons, though you might want to taste and see if it is not too sour for your taste, or you can use a simple balsamic vinaigrette as well.


I usually have kale in the fridge for my morning smoothies, and I have plenty of quinoa in the pantry. At the beginning of the week, I often cook a bag of quinoa and keep in the fridge to use as a side or throw in a salad. Quinoa is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal or grain. It was once called "the gold of the Incas". Quinoa grains are high in protein, containing all nine essential amino acids, which means it's a complete protein, just like meat or dairy. I won't bore you here with the details of the health benefits of quinoa, but if you are interested in knowing more, you can find that  here.


When you cook quinoa, make sure that you rinse it under water, over a sift, by squeezing the grains through your hands, so that the saponins, which is a sour substance around the grain, gets released. Then you can cook it like rice: one cup of water per cup of quinoa, a pinch of salt, 15 minutes on the stove and voila!

Salad:


1 bunch kale, chopped
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 avocados, cubed
1 green apple, cubed
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds


Dressing: 


3 limes, juiced
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp agave or maple syrup
1/2tsp of salt
pepper to taste


Mix the dressing in a bowl and pour 3/4 of it onto the kale in a big salad bowl. Then, massage the kale with the dressing, between the fingers, until all the leaves are covered in dressing and become softer (15-30 seconds). Then add the rest of the ingredients and the dressing, and mix together. The salad will be softer if you let it sit for about 20 minutes before eating, and it keeps very well in the fridge until the next day.


En francais: 
un chou frise (kale ne se trouve pas en Suisse)
2 tasses de quinoa cuite
2 avocats, coupes en cubes
1 pomme granny-smith, coupee en cubes
1/2 tasse de raisins secs
1/4 tasse de graines de courges crues


Sauce: le jus de trois citrons verts, 2 cs d'huile d'olive, 1 cs de sirop d'erable ou d'agave, 1/2 cc de sel, poivre selon gout.


Verser la sauce a salade sur les feuilles de chou et masser entre les doigts jusqu'a ce que les feuilles de ramolissent. Ajouter le reste des ingredients et melanger.


Bon Appetit!