weekday picnic

jury duty lunch #3:
Quinoa salad with Peppers and Tomatoes

Today is Monday, and my husband's jury duty has carried over from last week. I've been bringing lunch to him and eating it there together. I thought it would be fun to make something new and special every day - and turn lunch break into a sort of picnic.

Serving jury service in Pasadena has its perks; so far we've dined at three nearby courtyards; Plaza Las Fuentes, City Hall and Paseo Colorado. All have been nice places to eat lunch at.

Last week I did sandwiches and side salads that were easy to pack and eat. Both improvised Lamb with Roasted Tomato sandwiches and Salmon with egg salad sandwiches turned out great, so the pressure was on today for another hit. Being the start of a new week, I felt like eating something healthy. I remember Element's Kitchen (in Pasadena) having a memorable Quinoa salad, and I want to make something similar.

I've never tried cooking with red quinoa before so it was time to try using it in this recipe. The red quinoa sets off the colors of the other ingredients in this salad beautifully. Instead of roasting the peppers as the recipe asked, I used them raw, and added parsley. I used a Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato and a Persian cucumber that was on hand. The orange juice used to cook the quinoa turned out to be very effective. It lent a bright, full flavor and the pine nuts rounded the dish out very nicely with their toasted nuttiness.

I will make this dish again :)




http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/quinoa-salad-with-roasted-peppers-and-tomatoes