It’s been awhile since I’d made anything with quinoa (keen-wah). It’s a highly nutritious grain, with not a lot of flavor until you pair it with other things. It has a delicious chewy, almost crunchy but not quite, texture. It’s loaded with protein. Yes, protein, not just carbohydrates, although it has a rather high amount of carbs too! And with calories, also, actually. I was astounded when I totaled up this salad mixture and saw how many calories and grams of carbs were in a serving – most of them coming from the quinoa! So the lesson to be learned here is that you want small servings. I had it for lunch today and after eating little more than 1/3 cup, I was full.
This recipe came from the Los Angeles Times Food Section, back about 18 months ago, when the Times did a one-year retrospective (in January) of all their favorite recipes from 2009. This recipe was one of those. So does that tell you it’s something special? Yup, it is.
Recipe Tip
Use a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth to rinse the quinoa – those little grains will go right down the drain otherwise!
There are a few steps to making this, but if you take the time, you’ll be rewarded with a very special dish. For me, the star of the dish is the shiitake mushrooms. I didn’t use enough of them (didn’t use as much as the recipe called for), which was a mistake. Next time I’ll use the full 2 cups of shiitakes. They get cooked briefly in a hot wok (or frying pan), with some green onions added in at the end. Some fresh fennel gets caramelized too (separately, but in the same pan). The quinoa you make in a separate pan. You probably can rinse it in a bowl loaded with water, and try your best to use your hand to keep the quinoa grains from going down the drain as you hold your hand on the bowl. Once the quinoa was cooked I was able to tip the pan a bit and spoon out the excess water (not very much was there). Do keep a watch on the quinoa – you don’t want to overcook it. I think mine took about 13 minutes.
The other star of this dish is lime juice. Fresh lime juice. And don’t skimp on that either. In fact, I added a bit more to the dish once I’d mixed it all up. The mixture does have a bit of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, some garlic and peanut oil to start with. And once everything is done, you throw in some chopped Italian parsley, cilantro and I added some of the fennel fronds too. Definitely a keeper!
What I liked: the texture, the citrusy flavor that permeates it all, and the mushrooms. Oh, those shiitakes are just so good. It keeps for several days too with virtually no loss of flavor.
What I didn’t like: nothing at all. Great dish; worth making.
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Quinoa Salad with Shiitakes, Fennel and Cashews
Recipe By: Adapted from an L.A. Times 2009 recipe by Amy Scattergood. Voted one of the 10 best recipes of the year.
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: Use a very fine-meshed sieve (or cheesecloth) to rinse and drain the quinoa – it’s so tiny it will go right through any normal strainer. Quinoa is very healthy for us, although it’s high in calorie and particularly high in carbohydrates. Serve small portions!
2 cups quinoa, uncooked
1 quart water
Salt
1/4 cup peanut oil
5 cloves garlic — thinly sliced
2 cups fennel — thinly sliced
2 cups shiitake mushrooms — sliced fresh
1 cup sliced green onions — both white and green parts (about 1 small bunch)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup cashews — salted, toasted
4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons fennel fronds — (saved from the fennel bulb you used)
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1. In a bowl, rinse the quinoa under cool running water, then drain well with a VERY fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth-lined strainer (the grains are very small and will slip through a coarse strainer). Heat a wok over medium-high heat and toast the quinoa, shaking the pan frequently, just until the grains dry, are just beginning to color and have a nutty aroma, about 4-8 minutes. Scrape quinoa out into a bowl and set aside.
2. In a medium, lidded pot, bring 1 quart of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the quinoa with a pinch of salt, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook the quinoa until the grains are translucent and tender and the germ has spiraled out from the grain, 12 to 15 minutes (be careful not to overcook). Remove from heat and set aside. Most of the water will have been absorbed, but rather than drain again, just tip pan at an angle and use a spoon to remove any remaining water.
3. Meanwhile, heat the wok again over high heat. Add the peanut oil and heat until it just begins to simmer. Stir in the garlic and fry, stirring constantly, just until the garlic is golden, about 30 seconds (the garlic can burn quickly). Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, keeping the oil in the pan, and set aside.
4. Add the fennel to the oil and fry, stirring or tossing frequently, until it is caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oil and set aside. Add the shiitakes to the oil and stir-fry until caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the green onions in with the mushrooms and continue to stir-fry just until the green onions begin to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and vinegar to the mixture and stir or toss to combine, then remove from heat.
5. In a large bowl, gently toss the quinoa with the warm shiitake-green onion mixture, the fennel, garlic, cashews, parsley, cilantro, lime zest and juice. Season to taste with additional salt if desired and serve immediately. (Or, make this ahead, and allow to sit out at room temperature for up to an hour.)
Per Serving: 467 Calories; 14g Fat (25.6% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 80g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 161mg Sodium.
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