Quinoa, Chickpea & Garden Harvest Vegetable Salad

Hello. I'm w-a-a-y overdue to share a recipe with you, faithful readers. And it would be so tempting to continue working on this post and include all the wonderful resources I've found on quinoa and chickpeas.

But, I will force myself to keep this one short and sweet savoury because I have tomatoes to preserve, a garden plot to tidy and prepare for radishes and garlic, AND a seasonal, delectable recipe to make for our potluck community garden party this Sunday. So for now, just the recipe. I'll save the story behind it and the facts, tips & recipes I've uncovered for a later time.

Have a great weekend everyone. From the talk on Twitter, I think a lot of people will be spending time in their kitchens with juicy tomatoes.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa seeds
1 1/2 cups cold water
Optional: 1/4 tsp salt
1-15 oz (425 g) can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
Assorted chopped, fresh vegetables, about 2 to 3 cups
Dressing:
3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grainy mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Soak and cook the quinoa according to the savvy vegetarian's method.

2. Combine the cooked quinoa and drained chickpeas in a large mixing bowl.

3. To the bowl add assorted chopped, fresh vegetables from the garden. (In this version I used only tomatoes and sweet peppers. Persian baby cucumbers are also a lovely addition.)

4. Prepare the dressing. Combine lemon juice, sugar & mustard in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Whisk in olive oil until emulsified.

5. Toss the salad with just enough of this dressing to lightly coat the ingredients. Refrigerate the unused portion of the dressing to use on your next salad.

6. Eat and enjoy.

Yield: about 6 servings.

Comments

[Sylvia]

In your quinoa vegetable salad, I see you added Persian cucumbers. I just finished reading a fictional book called "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas. The title is what a group of 1930s era women in depression era Kansas called their quilting group. The name of the group came from the name of a treasured piece of paisley cloth that one of the women had been given. It was a real honor to be given a scrap of the "Persian Pickle" cloth to add to a quilt top. It seems everywhere I look, I am seeing a lot of paisley prints in clothing (must be back in style). Now, I call the paisley prints, Persian Pickle prints. Thought you might find that bit of information interesting if you don't already know it.

[Elaine]

Hello, Sylvia. That is fascinating information! Thank you for sharing it. Also, thank you for introducing yourself. You've aroused my curiosity to learn even more about Persian cucumbers and pickles, as well as the book you mentioned. I don't think I'll ever look at paisley the same way again :-).

By the way, there are still three very small cucumbers on the plant in my garden plot. The weather's turned so cool I doubt they'll get much larger so I think I'll pick them tonight. I'll be sure to use them in a special way because of your comment :-).