I have not been exploring the world of quinoa as much as I would have liked to yet but when creating some new Christmas inspired recipes for a magazine last month I added what to me are the flavours of summer Christmas.
Don’t get too hung up on measurements with this. The intended result is simply nourishment, colour and a medley of fresh gorgeous ingredients.
This would go beautifully with bean burgers and a crisp garden salad or it would be the perfect accompaniment to a fragrant nut roast or lovely just on its own for lunch.
YOU NEED
1 cup of black quinoa
2 organic cobs of corn
1 punnet of roma cherry tomatoes
1 fresh mango
½ Christmas melon
½ cup of pomegranate seeds
1 cup of fresh, washed spinach leaves
1 lime
olive oil to taste
YOU DO
Rinse the quinoa well under cold water. Drain it and discard the rinsing water. Then place the quinoa into a medium pot with 2 cups of water. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cover the pot. Cook for 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. When it’s cooked, it resembles little curls. Once it is cooked, allow it to cool and set aside.
While the quinoa is cooking, remove the husks from the corn and place the corn cobs on an open flame. Turn the cobs as the kernels start to blacken and continue cooking until all the corn is cooked. Once it has cooled, slice the kernels from the cob. Discard the cobs and set the kernels aside.
Cut the cherry tomatoes, lengthways into 4 and set aside.
Remove the stone from the mango, cut the cheeks of the mango off and slice and remove cubes of mango. Discard the stone and peel and set the mango cubes aside.
Remove and discard the seeds and skin from the melon and either ball the melon with a melon baller or cut it into cubes.
Mix all the ingredients together now, except for the lime and olive oil. When you go to serve the salad, squeeze lime juice over the it and drizzle some olive oil over the top also and serve.
Yields: 4 side serves.
Time: 30 minutes.
Notes: It’s really important to rinse the quinoa well because depending on how it has been produced it can have a very bitter flavour.
If you don’t have a gas stove top, simply blacken the corn in a pan or on the BBQ.
If you can’t find Christmas Melon, you can substitute it for honeydew melon.You can often get pomegranate seeds at the supermarket in the fruit and vegetable section. Otherwise just remove the seeds from a fresh pomegranate.
