Quinoa | Blissfulbritt

I can’t say I’m a big fan of “sweet” salads. I like savory, spicy, and salty salads piled high with veggies, beans, salsa, and herbs. There is always an exception though, and summer months mean lighter meals.

I needed to come up with a dish to use up the leftover onion and cilantro I had from this meal. I am not one to waste, and I can only use so much cilantro on my lunches. Thus this quinoa salad was born.

Light, refreshing, and a good balance of sweet, salty, and acidity. The flavor train will be parking in your mouth, and you’ll want it to stay.

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1 tblsp coconut oil
1 small lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 cup diced sugar plum tomatoes
1/4 cup diced green onion
1.5 cups diced pineapple
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup salted cashews

Directions

Cook your quinoa in the 2 cups of water. Once cooked, melt in the coconut oil, juice your lime, and zest your lime right into the mix.
In no particular order, add the rest of your ingredients and stir well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: I didn’t buy salted cashews, and ended up adding a bit of salt to my dish. The sweetness of the pineapple called for a salty balance. If you use salted cashews, extra salt might not be necessary.

This is one of those meals that gets better as it sits. Ideally I would let this sit for at least an hour before consuming. This gives the flavors enough time to party together and become one giant ball of delicious.

Suggested toppings: Sliced avocado, and of course more cilantro.

Also delicious with chips, but what ISN’T delicious with chips??

Happy noshing my friends!

Q: What do you typically eat when it’s warm out? LOTS of fruit, and cold salads. Don’t even try to give me something “heavy.”

I have a very open mind when it comes to trying new food. As long as it falls within certain “criteria” I am all for anything and everything. I remember the first time I laid eyes on bok choy was two years ago.

Trader Joe’s is notorious for constantly rotating new and exciting products into their stores, this is partially why I loved working there so much. I was able to discover new products before everyone else.

This meal is an old favorite, as you will see if you click the link in my first paragraph, but this time I did things a tad bit differently. While I love TJ’s soyaki sauce, I wanted to take a stab at making my own.

I’ve made walnut cream sauces for pasta before, and that was a no brainer. Making this sauce more themed to this Asian style dish was a bit harder, but my attempt was successful. At least successful enough for my family to eat what I made without any hesitations.

Or maybe they were just really hungry, I’ll never know.

This is a perfect light, yet filling summer meal. I bought my bok choy and tofu from TJ’s, so my only complaint was I would have liked one more bok choy. Three is a magical number, but alas I settled for two.

Walnut Ginger Quinoa w/ Tofu & Bok Choy

The plating I used wasn’t the best choice for these photos, the walnut sauce blends into the plate. Look closely, it’s the blob at the top.

Ingredients

8 oz sprouted tofu
6 small bok choy pieces (I used the entire container from TJ’s)
1 cup (dried) quinoa
1-3 tblsp coconut oil (just enough for frying)

For the walnut sauce

1.5 cups raw walnuts
1 cup water
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 med/lrg garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For the tofu: cut into small cubes, and pan fry in coconut oil on each side until browned and crisp. You won’t need a ton of oil in your pain, just enough to submerge about a centimeter of the tofu on each side.

For the bok choy: using the same oil (and then more as needed) sautee each piece and cover with a lid. This wont take long. The leaves will wilt before the base, and if you want to cut this into smaller pieces for a softer texture do so. I liked a little crunch.

For the quinoa: I used 1 cup of dry quinoa and about a cup and a half of water. Put onto the stove and bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium and let sit. I like to turn my stove off early and let the quinoa cook itself while covered in its own steam. Or follow the directions on your packaging for proper cooking directions, everyone is a bit diff.

For the walnut sauce: pour all your ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until well combined. Taste as you go and add anything else you feel is needed. I added cayenne pepper to my dish after plating, because my family doesn’t like spice.

Once everything is complete plate and enjoy! A bowl worked best for me after I had a photo shoot with my meal. I also ended up cutting the bottoms off of my bok choy because they were a bit tough.

As for your sauce, you won’t need much. I used a bit less than a tablespoon. I don’t like when the sauce overpowers the meal. Just enough for some flavor without your meal swimming in sauce. Gross.

Happy noshing friends!

Q: Have you ever tried bok choy?