Quinoa Salad

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2013 as the "International Year of Quinoa"  in recognition of ancestral practices of the Andean people, who have preserved quinoa as food for present and future generations, through knowledge and practices of living in harmony with nature. The objective is to draw the world’s attention on the role that quinoa plays in providing food security, nutrition and poverty eradication

Quinao is a delicious whole grain that was prized by the incas for its nutritive value ,in fact its the only grain contains all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein 

How to Boil Quinao 

Rinse quinoa for about 2 minutes, using your hands to make sure all the saponins are removed.
Fill a medium pot with water, add quinoa and salt to taste and bring to a boil. When the water boils, reduce heat to low and cover; simmer covered 5 minutes. Removefrom heat and keep covered an additional 5 minutes without lifting the lid; then fluff with a fork and set aside  to cool.

Cover quinoa with water using at least twice the amount of water to quinoa. Soak quinoa in a bowl for 12 hours. Using running water, place the grains in a jar with a screen or cheesecloth lid; or use some other sprouting apparatus. Rinse seeds twice a day. Lay the jar sideways to give them room to grow. Cover the jar with a dark cloth loosely so that air can move through the lid. The grain is soft when finished, and best eaten in 2-3 days. 

Quinao Salad / Summer Salad 

Ingredients 

Quinao uncooked -2 cups

tomatoes - 2nos

onions-1 nos 

cucumber - 1nos

avacado- 1nos

jalapenos - 1nos

parsley - small bunch

mintleaves-06 leaves

dry cranberries - 50 gms

oilive oil - 4tsp

lemon - 2nos

lime- 2nos

Method

Cook the quinao as mentioned above

dice all the vegetables 

mix the quinao with vegetables 

whisk lemon and lime juice with oil and salt 

toss it with quinao 

adjust the seasoning if required 

serve cold 

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