In an attempt at being a little more healthy I converted one of my all-time favourite salads to include a wholegrain and less fat. I went on an accidental healthfood shopping spree with a friend and I picked up a packet of the ancient grain, quinoa, which seems to have suddenly taken the health-conscience western world by storm. It was simple to prepare and its addition did not seem to interfere with the true essence of the recipe.
Instead of deep-fried flatbread, I used toasted, leftover sourdough bread. I must confess, the inclusion of these croutons was more out of frugality than mere health concerns. We had a remaining half a loaf from the previous nights delicious beef bourguignon. I couldn’t bear to see it go to waste. It toasted up a treat and I added it in at the very moment I was ready to consume this superfood salad. These bite-size cubes can get very soggy when sitting in the dressing.
Ingredients
Recipe adapted from New Flavours of the Lebanese Table by Nada Saleh
2 tablespoons organic white quinoa
2 roma tomatoes
1 cucumber
4 radishes
1/2 red onion
4 leaves of cos lettuce
handful of flat parsley leaves
half-handful of fresh mint
juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
approx 2 large slices of sourdough bread
1/2 teaspoon sumac
1/ Rinse the quinoa in a bowl of water and drain. Fill a small pot with water and add the freshly washed quinoa. Allow it to simmer for 15 minutes and drain. Allow to cool.
2/ Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, red onion and cos lettuce into similar sized chunks and place them in a mixing bowl.
3/ Roughly slice the parsley and mint and add it to the mixing bowl.
4/ In a small bowl add the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, garlic and slowly beat in the olive oil with a whisk.
5/ Add the quinoa and slowly pour in the dressing to the salad and toss gently.
6/ Toast the sourdough slices under a grill (rub it with a garlic clove if you love the flavour). Remove the crust and chop into the same size as the vegetables.
7/ Add the croutons to the salad and sprinkle with sumac.
Please share this:
Comments
anh
March 11, 2011 at 9:32 amsuch a lovely salad! I made a similar one with quinoa as well and it’s fantastic.
tigerfish
March 11, 2011 at 10:10 amI should use quinoa in salad soon! It is like a “must-do” for quinoa.
OohLookBel
March 11, 2011 at 2:48 pmUnusual but delicious to add the quinoa. I’d leave in the deep-fried pita bread, though – it’s the best part!
TasteHongKong
March 11, 2011 at 4:39 pmNice suggestion for using my organic quinoa : )!
mademoiselle délicieuse
March 11, 2011 at 4:51 pmNever cooked with quinoa myself but have tried it and, yes, it does keep appearing on menus lately!
Adrian (Food Rehab)
March 12, 2011 at 10:35 pmVery healthy indeed. This would be the poifect salad in summer…although in Melbourne, we didn’t really have one considering the amount of rain we had! LOL
BTW nice touch with the quinoa.
Richard Elliot
March 13, 2011 at 11:30 amLooks lovely Amy. I’ve been craving some Lebanese food recently!
Conor @ Hold the Beef
March 13, 2011 at 2:54 pmSuper fresh, awesome recipe! A little switcheroo with the type of croutons and it’s gluten-free too! 🙂
I was going so well with my resolve to not eat lunch until I got to my bookclub meeting this afternoon (where we will have piles of food) but after looking at this I am heading straight to the fridge.
angie
March 13, 2011 at 8:26 pmQuinoa does seem to have taken the culinary world by storm hasn’t it? I’m still yet to try it though. I do commend u for making the recipe fit to what u had on hand, wasteage is a bad habit I do too often!
Vivienne
March 13, 2011 at 9:06 pmthis is so healthy indeed! i’ve not had quinoa in salad before (cook it as a porridge normally) so looking forward to give it a go…when i get my hand on those pomegranate molasses.
sweetlife
March 15, 2011 at 8:38 amgreat idea, we love quinoa and glad to find other tasty creations…i need to purchase more pom molasses…thanks for sharing
sweetlife
mash
March 15, 2011 at 10:01 amSounds delish and so healthy too. Shame the weather has been so cold lately. Will keep this one up my sleeve for a quick and healthy bite in summer.
JT @ areyouhungary
March 15, 2011 at 10:00 pmI do love quinoa, but every time I think about it I am reminded of the Betty White Saturday Night Live sketch ..”Delicious Dish”…I recommend it for a giggle…
pigpigscorner
March 18, 2011 at 9:54 amThis looks fab! Love the addition of quinoa.
Rhonda (The Dainty Baker)
March 22, 2011 at 10:36 ammmm this looks so refreshing and healthy!! quinoa… must get my hands on some!
cityhippyfarmgirl
March 27, 2011 at 1:55 pmI love Lebanese food. This looks far nicer than the lunch I just had.
betty
June 15, 2011 at 4:18 pmmm this looks good! 🙂
where have you been girl??