Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
A fresh, naturally gluten-free salad built on tricolor quinoa.
Rinse the quinoa until the water stops foaming. That foam is saponin, the bitter coating on the grain, and it is the reason most quinoa salads carry an aftertaste nobody can place.
And once cooked, spread it out on a wide tray to cool. Left in the pot it keeps cooking in its own residual heat and turns to paste — the grains should stay separate.
The avocado goes in last, folded gently, so it does not break up into the dressing.
Ingredients
- 250 g tricolor quinoa
- 500 ml water or vegetable stock
- 1 ripe avocado, cubed
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 red onion, very finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cucumber, diced
- 50 g pitted black olives
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- A handful of fresh parsley or cilantro (coriander), chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- 1
Rinsing: put the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse it under cold running water, rubbing the grains, until the water no longer foams. That foam is saponin, and it is what leaves the bitter aftertaste.
- 2
Cooking: put the quinoa in a pot with the water or stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to minimum, cover and cook for 15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the grain looks translucent with its little white germ released.
- 3
Cooling: spread it out on a wide tray so it loses heat quickly — left in the pot it overcooks in its own residual heat.
- 4
Assembly: in a large bowl, mix the cooled quinoa with the tomatoes, the red onion, the cucumber and the olives.
- 5
Add the avocado and the parsley, and dress with the lemon juice, the olive oil, salt and pepper. Fold gently so the avocado does not break up.
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