Warm Quinoa Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
The perfect False Spring meal.
Is this not the trickiest time of year to feed oneself?
The lack of great produce, and the physical effects of winter hibernation, mean my body is craving something a bit brighter and fresher, something less nutritionally vapid than the simple carbs I’ve been hunkering down with for months.
But also, it’s still chilly! And the asparagus aren’t even poking through the soil yet. The shot of vitamin D I’m getting on the walk in to school drop-off makes me think I should work harder to ingest some other vitamins too, but I’m not quite ready for cold salads. What about you?
My answer is this quinoa bowl, inspired by the Buddha bowls you saw everywhere in the 2010s, particularly the ones at the OG Life Alive cafe in Cambridge, MA.
I realize this is niche, but if you spent time in the Boston area back then, you might remember when Life Alive was a beloved indie hippie cafe, trailblazing the use of nama shoyu and nutritional yeast.
I still love a Life Alive visit, but since it was bought by Ron Schaiche (the founder of Panera) it’s more of a bougie wellness chain, than the crunchy granola cafe I’m nostalgic for. New ones seem to be popping up in a luxury condo buildings all over.
Anyhow, this is the season for food like this: Nourishing and light, a real “eat the rainbow” moment, but still warm and tasty enough to not feel punitive.
The dressing is a winner, one I hope you’ll work into your regular rotation to dress up leftovers, rice bowls, and salads galore. It’s also wonderful on that fresh asparagus, when it finally decides to make an appearance.
In the meantime, I’ll be tucking into this warm quinoa salad at lunch time, and waiting for the daffodils to pop.
RECIPE
WARM QUINOA SALAD WITH SESAME GINGER DRESSING
Serves 4
EQUIPMENT
Cutting board on a wet paper towel
Garbage bowl
Chef’s knife
Box Grater ( if not using food processor grating attachment)
Large pot with a tight-fitting lid
Fine mesh strainer (to rinse quinoa)
A medium mixing bowl (to hold prepped veggies as you grate, and keep your cutting board from being taken over…if you’re using a food processor with grater attachment you don’t need this)
Microplane or citrus zester
Fork to juice lime
Mini blender (or regular blender or food processor)
INGREDIENTS:
SALAD
1 cup uncooked quinoa
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 medium beet, grated (scrubbed so you don’t have to peel it)
2 carrots, (scrubbed so you don’t have to peel them)
2 ears corn, cut off the cob (or 1.5 cups frozen corn)
1 small bunch kale (about 2 cups finely chopped)
2 avocados
DRESSING
1 clove garlic
2 inch knob of ginger (scrubbed so you don’t have to peel it)
1 lime
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup neutral oil (avocado, vegetables, safflower, canola etc.)
Kosher salt to taste
1. Bring 3 cups of water with 1/2 a teaspoon salt to a boil in a large pot, while that is coming to a boil rinse the 1 cup quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Once water comes to a boil add the quinoa to the boiling water and set a timer for 10 minutes. That’s how long you have to prep the veg!
2. If you have a food processor with a grater attachment use that to grate the 2 carrots and 1 beet and then you can swap out the blades and make the dressing in the bowl of the food processor. If you’re like me and you haven’t replaced the broken parts of your Cuisinart…then use the large holes of a box grater to grate the beet and carrots. Cut the kernels off 2 cobs of corn or measure out 1 1/2 cups frozen corn. Remove the bunch of kale leaves from its stems and finely chop it.
2. When the 10 minute timer goes off, most of the water will be evaporated. Add the grated beets, carrots, corn and kale to the cooking quinoa, reduce heat to low, cover, and let steam for 3 minutes, before turning off the heat. Leave it covered while you make the dressing
3. Smash the garlic clove with the back of a knife and toss it into the blender bowl. Roughly chop the knob of ginger and toss in the blender/food processor bowl. Grab the lime and use the Microplane to zest it into the blender bowl, cut it in half and use a fork to juice the lime right in the dressing. Pour in 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1/2 cup oil. Blend well and pour over the quinoa veggie mixture.
4. Fluff with a fork. Taste for seasoning, adding salt if you like. Transfer to bowls, and slice avocado to top.
That chart of east coast seasons always makes me laugh! This looks delicious and like exactly what I want to be eating for the next two months.
Lollllled at these seasons. It snowed today in Chicago. So I feel this deeply.