Quinoa, is a great ingredient to serve as a side dish, main or dessert. Because it is an ancient grain, I feel greater confidence in serving it than I do some of the other GM foods available on supermarket shelves today. Quinoa can be served warm or cold, which makes for a great salad. We have also seen Quinoa used in porridge, muffins, meatballs and dessert recipes. It is a versatile ingredient that is very easy to cook.  Just add one cup of quinoa to 2.5 cups of cold water and boil for 15-20 minutes.

Nutritionally, quinoa is a a great all-rounder, containing fiber, protein and folate, which is very good for healthy skin, hair growth, eye and liver functioning as well as supporting nervous system function.   We try and add it into the meal plan at least twice a week because it’s pretty healthy and also gluten free. There’s always a packet of quinoa in the pantry.

The various types of quinoa available include white, black and red…all of which maintain similar health benefits. Black quinoa is slightly earthy in flavour and crunchier in texture, whilst the red and white quinoa maintain similar flavour profiles.  For this Quinoa salad recipe you can choose to use any of the quinoa’s available. You can also mix them!

What you will need:

1 cup quinoa

2.5 cups of water

2 tbs currants

1/2 small radicchio sliced

50 grams gorgonzola dolce

1/2 cup toasted flaked almonds

1 bunch chopped parsley

Dressing:

Salt, Pepper

1.5 tbs olive oil

Up to 1 tbs balsamic vinegar

How to prepare:

Place the quinoa in a saucepan with 2.5 cups of cold water and cook for 10-15 minutes. Until the quinoa has absorbed most of the water and has split.

Set aside to cool.

Combine the ingredients for the salad dressing. Toss together with all the other salad ingredients.

Serve.

Recipe Tip: Ensure that your almonds are toasted, they taste so much better for this recipe. If you cannot find toasted flaked almonds at your local, you can toast the standard flaked almonds by dry toasting them in a small non stick pan. Beware, once the pan is hot, it wont take long for the almonds to brown and crisp, therefore ensure to continue moving the flakes around until evenly toasted.