Serves
four. Quinoa is a high endurance food, high in essential proteins, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Aside from all that, it's just a great comfort food, even when it's served cold. Heart healthy olive oil, vitamin C, cancer protecting tomatoes and detoxifying parsley make this dish great nutrition, especially for vegetarians who might miss getting enough protein in their diet.
Put
the quinoa into a fine strainer, and run water through it until the water is clear
and no longer sudsy. If you don't have a fine strainer, rinse the quinoa in a
bowl filled with water, and then strain it through a clean dishtowel.
In
a 2-quart pot, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the wet quinoa and simmer over
low medium heat uncovered until done, about 12 minutes for white, or 15 minutes
for black. Quinoa is fully cooked when the germ has separated from the grain.
It looks like a small white "C" shape surrounding each grain. If any
excess liquid remains, pour it off and raise the heat to quickly boil off the
rest. Stir in the salt.
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
2 scallions, 1/4-inch dice
2 ripe medium tomatoes, diced and lightly salted, juice reserved
salt and freshly ground pepper
Whisk
together the lemon juice, oil, parsley and scallions in a serving bowl large enough
to hold all ingredients. Stir in the quinoa and then the tomatoes. Adjust salt,
pepper, lemon juice and oil (which will depend on the temperature and moisture
content of the quinoa). Serve chilled or at room temperature.
