Quinoa Corn Salad from The Urban Picnic
On Saturdays during the summer, we've been featuring a series of picnic recipes to cook and taste at the Main Shop. Last week I cooked this fabulous, fresh
Southwest-inspired Quinoa Corn Salad from
The Urban Picnic by John Burns and Elisabeth Caton (The recipe is also found in
Rebar Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Alsterberg and Wanda Urbanowicz) .
Quinoa (
pronounced
keen-wah) is high in protein, calcium and iron and is a great grain to include in salads as it has a mild flavour and retains a soft texture when chilled. What a great way to also feature locally grown corn.
Quinoa Corn Salad
1 cup (240
mL)
quinoa
1 1/2 cups (360
mL) water
1/2 tsp. (2.5
mL) salt
2 1/2 cups (600
mL) corn, fresh or frozen
1 small red onion, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
3 Tbsp. (45
mL) lemon juice
3 Tbsp. (45
mL) lime juice
1/4 cup (60
mL) chopped cilantro
3 scallions, minced
2 Tbsp. (30
mL) finely minced chives
1 tsp. (5
mL) salt
1/2 tsp. (2.5
mL) Tabasco sauce, or to taste
Place
quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold, running water. Bring water to boil in a small pot, add the
quinoa and salt and bring to a boil again. Cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the pot covered for an additional 5 minutes. Strain off any excess liquid and spread the
quinoa out to cool on a tray while preparing the remaining ingredients.
Steam or lightly saute corn until just tender and cool to room temperature [I steamed the whole cobs of corn, cooled them and cut them off the cob]. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss. Season with additional salt, pepper or hot sauce to taste.
Serve with fresh lime wedges.
Serves 6