Everyone needs to be passionate about something, to give purpose to life. For some people, that passion might be reading or painting. For me, it’s food—specifically, cheese and bread. As I outgrow the miraculous metabolism of teenagers, however, I have begun to realize that my diet of Brie, French bread, and wine isn’t doing me any favors. This school year, I decided to embark on a journey to find the tastiest, healthiest, simplest, (and cheapest!) recipes each week. In the search for these recipes, I plan to leave no stone unturned and no superfood untested. My hope is that my passion for food and my role as guinea pig might combine to create believers in the power of good, healthy food.
I decided that if I was really going to do this experiment in healthy eating, I might as well jump in headfirst, so for my first meal, I picked the superfood quinoa. Quinoa is a small, round whole grain that is rich in both protein and fiber, making it great for vegetarians and anyone who has trouble keeping up their iron. Another plus: Quinoa is gluten-free, making it a perfect grain for those with gluten intolerances or allergies.
I love the Grecian quinoa salad that I found on myrecipes.com because it is a very versatile summer dish. The quick prep time, summer vegetables, and cheap ingredients make it perfect for a picnic or dinner. Because it is so low in calories (under 400 per serving) it felt perfectly acceptable to have for dinner with a glass of wine, which makes this recipe an automatic win in my book. The variety of colors—green, yellow, white, red, and brown—made for a beautiful presentation. The dish is not too strong and really brings out the texture of the quinoa while allowing all of the other ingredients to make themselves known.
Using chicken broth to cook the quinoa made it even more flavorful; of course, if you don’t eat meat, the chicken broth could always be substituted by vegetable broth. Since I couldn’t find radicchio in any grocery stores around me, I ended up using baby arugula instead, which still lent a zesty bite to the dish. The salad took a total of about 45 minutes to prepare, and I was able to eat it for dinner, as a side with lunch the next day, and even as a snack the day after that. I will definitely be making this for my next potluck!
You can find the recipe used here.
Easy Summer Dish: Quinoa Salad
