Quinoa with currants, dill & zucchini

This is my all-time favourite quinoa dish (until another comes along!). You can serve it warm or cold. This recipe makes enough for 4 main servings or 6 side servings. We served it over salad greens. As a main dish, we didn't need anything else. We had two servings the first day, and served it cold the second day, still great!

It's a quirky mix of green onions, quinoa, currants, dill, zucchini, lemon, and sesame seeds, with optional feta cheese on top as a garnish.

I made an oops making this (I often goof when reading a recipe) - the recipe calls for grated zucchini done on a box grater. Well, I looked at our mandoline, and it was shaped like a box, so I sliced the zucchini. Then when I went back to the recipe, I saw it called for grated zucchini, so I quickly chopped them up into matchsticks, and I liked that a lot better than the grated zucchini, although it takes more time. So suit yourself - grated or matchstick.

Toasting your own sesame seeds is way better but requires you to pay close attention. I put them in a flat non-stick pan and turned up the heat. You have to watch them carefully! Spread them around and mix them up periodically. When the individual seeds start to get a bit smaller and start to turn a bit brown, they should be ready - don't burn them!

We served it with grated feta cheese (I cheated and bought a bag of grated feta), just a bit sprinkled on top adds a nice contrast in taste.
We also used only 1 zucchini, rather than 2.

Here's a link to the full recipe:
Quinoa with Currants, Dill & Zucchini recipe (101cookbooks.com)

Quinoa salad (vegan)

This recipe is so good, we had it twice in a row (ok, I made a full recipe and we had to eat it up). But we really, really like it! and I think I'm addicted to quinoa.

I used Bob's Red Mill brand organic quinoa (I had bought a bag a loooong time ago, and it was sitting in the fridge - I don't think aging it does anything).

Makes 4 - 6 Servings

Ingredients:1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups cold water
½ tsp salt
1 cup celery
1 - 2 small carrots, peeled and sliced thin
½ green pepper, sliced thin
1 medium ripe tomato
1 medium English cucumber, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup chopped pistachio nuts
½ cup dried unsweetened cranberries

Dressing:
2 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:
The quinoa can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Soak the quinoa 1/2 hour in cold water. Rinse very thoroughly in water several times. For each rinse, pour off most of the water and finish draining through a large fine mesh strainer. Place in 2 quart pot with the water and salt. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to very low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit five minutes with lid on. Fluff gently with a fork and set aside to cool.

Steam the carrots and green veggies for 5 minutes, rinse in cold water
Chop the tomatoes, herb and cucumber
Blend dressing ingredients with a whisk or shake in a jar
Gently combine veggies, walnuts, quinoa and dressing in a large bowl
Cover and chill

Keep the uncooked quinoa in the fridge or freezer (it has a high oil content and will go rancid otherwise). Use a pot with a tight-fitting lid (we use Le Creuset brand).