Tuesday 2 July 2013

Fresh Basil Quinoa {With Olives, Tomatoes, Chicken, Red Bell Pepper and Cukes}


Ah, quinoa! So hearty, so healthy, so proteinaceous, so delicious, so easy to pronounce! If you're new to gluten free world, perhaps you're not yet acquainted with it. It's one of the grains you can actually eat! So if you're getting sick of rice, it's about time you give it a try. You can buy it here on Amazon if you can't find it at the store.

By the way, I was lying before when I said it's easy to pronounce. It actually goes against all human reason and even against that video I just linked to. That was just a little joke. Heh. It's actually pronounced keen-wah.



The real reason I made this quinoa though, was to take pictures of my basil. Ain't it purty? I know, I've been talking about making an herb garden for a while and you probably thought I would forget about it like so many of my other schemes. But I bet you weren't expecting this:



Okay, so the dill is a little sad and the sage is not very... sagey, but I still love it. Seriously, I don't know what's up with that sage. I'm starting to think it's actually a weed because it doesn't look like any sage I've ever seen. 



But getting back to the quinoa...

This is just something I threw together with anything I could find around the house. Don't worry too much about exact measurements and stuff. Just make it the way you like it!

Fresh Basil Quinoa

1 cup raw quinoa
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken (I used rotisserie) 
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 can of olives (I left them whole because I was lazy, but you can chop them if you want)
1/2 of a white onion, chopped
1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber, chopped
 A handful of fresh basil, chopped

For the dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup light olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon sugar

Cook the quinoa according the package instructions and chill.  Add all the vegetables and basil and stir it up. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the quinoa. Chill until ready to serve.



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