A bad, bad flu… I am writing this blog post in bed, because I’m sick. I think it was expected, no? I mean, weather forecast being around -25C last week? I tried to avoid that and stay at home but there is a limited time you can stay at home – the girl’s gotta work. And so this week, since Monday morning, I’ve been in bed, knocked out. Added to this, David Bowie died, there was yet another big explosion in Istanbul.. Yes, I feel bad.. But let’s move on to the recipe, shall we?

 

So, this week’s recipe is a simple one: a salad, with my current favourite ingredient, quinoa. This time, I am using red quinoa. I tried to find the differences between different colours of quinoa. It seems that the biggest difference is the amount of time needed for cooking. By the way, the original recipe I inspired from, in “Kalyn’s Kitchen” blog, uses whole wheat couscous instead of quinoa. You can try it with that one if you like, but then it won’t be gluten-free.

 

 

This was also the first time I ever peeled, cut and ate persimmon! And I loved it! I never knew that it was so sweet, juicy and delicious! I have to admit that it has a strange texture to touch for me. I like fruits when they are hard and not so juicy when touched, but persimmon passes beyond my prejudice.

 

 

 

To make the taste of your salad even richer, you can also add some roasted nuts, like pine nuts, and fresh mint. These are all suggested in the original recipe. But I kept my salad simple.

 

So go ahead, make your delicious salad, and listen to David Bowie while you are making it. I am so sad about his death that I cannot find words to describe how I feel exactly…

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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: ★☆☆ (easy)
(serves 4 people)
(In this recipe, 1 cup = 2.4 dl)

 

Printable PDF version (no photos)

 

1 cup / 2 dl + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp red quinoa, washed very well with cold water
3 cups / 7 dl+ 1 tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable broth
1 tbsp + 2 tsp olive oil (1 tbsp is used for cooking quinoa if you wish. I do not use oil when I cook quinoa. 2 tsp olive oil is used for the rest of salad.)
1 persimmon (or more, if you like), peeled and chopped
1 cup grapes (you can also use red grapes), cut in half
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
a pinch of cumin
salt, to taste

 

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1. Cook red quinoa with vegetable broth in a pan. Quinoa will be fluffy when cooked and the broth will be absorbed. Set the cooked quinoa aside. You can use 1 tbsp olive oil with quinoa if you like, BUT, I never use olive oil or any other oil when I cook quinoa. If you are not going gluten-free and using couscous, you might want to use that 1 tbsp olive oil while cooking it.

 

 

 

2. Put chopped persimmon, grapes, spring onions in a bowl and mix a little. Then add lemon juice, 2 tsp olive oil, a pinch of cumin and salt and mix.

 

 

3. Add cooked red quinoa and give it a final mix. That’s it, you’re done!