Trying Out Black Quinoa

Quinoa is a grain that I have not had a lot of cooking or eating experience with.  The few times I have had this dish it has been a bit mealy in texture and its pale colour have not drawn me to working with it.  But, at a recent potluck there was a salad that really was tasty and completely different from what I expected from quinoa because it was black.   It is very fine in texture, with much smaller grains than the usual white quinoa I have seen in the grocery store and in salads.   Friends who are unable to eat wheat use this ‘berry’ in many of their culinary dishes.

Quinoa is not actually considered a grain or part of the grass family but rather it produces seeds which are called ‘berries’.  It is more closely related to the chard and spinach family than the grass/grain family.
The Incas used quinoa extensively in their food preparation.   This was all new information to me when I looked into it.

The black quinoa salad that I sampled recently was a lovely tender texture, that had a hint of curry flavour in it.  I began to wonder if this could be an addition to my summer eating that includes a daily salad of raw vegetables.  Could I blend the two into a salad?   Well, experimenting is huge piece of learning to cook and create, and always an adventure!   I experimented a lot when I was growing up and cooking for my family and  I am sure they bravely ate things that were not very tasty!     Now my husband bravely samples my experiments from the kitchen!   

I have been trying to eat more raw vegetables and have really been enjoying them.  Usually there are carrots, peppers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and cucumber in the fridge and they can easily be cut up into nice small pieces.  Toss them in a little olive oil and fresh lemon juice, season with a little sea salt and then crumble in some feta cheese and you have a healthy, hearty, and tasty lunch.   Sometimes it is nice to add a sliced apple or some blueberries to change it up.   Some fresh spinach leaves are excellent too.

How about blending the black quinoa and raw vegetable salad but letting it take on a Moroccan flavour?
Adding cumin and curry seasoning in the cooking of the quinoa and then once the salad was ready adding a chiffonade of fresh mint from the garden would accomplish this.

The quinoa is easy to cook.   If you use 1 cup of quinoa, use 2 cups of water.   Directions on the package are easy to follow - just rinse quinoa, then sauté in a bit of olive oil, add a little salt, then add your water.  Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed - about 20 minutes.    To put a bit more exotic seasoning in, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil then add the quinoa.   Add about 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of curry paste, season with salt and pepper,  and sauté for a minute or so.   Add the required amount of water or vegetable stock then bring to boil and simmer as directed.

When the quinoa  was ready I let it cool slightly and then added my chopped vegetables which was about 2 cups worth.  Adding the juice of one freshly squeezed lemon adds a great bit of flavour.    Finely chop about 10 good sized mint leaves and add to the salad and then crumble in about ½ cup  of feta cheese (more if you wish).   Adding raisins and toasted pine nuts would be nice too.

We really enjoyed this new dish and I think there will be many more variations on it this summer.