While I am a great fan of gadgets, that is not what I have in mind here, Rube Goldberg (and thanks to this site for the opening graphic) to the contrary notwithstanding. Yes, I love Rube Goldberg -- including this you tube and this one too. Not so sure yourself? Check this out. Come on. Smile. Who ever thought of Rube Goldberg and kitchens before? (Turns out lots of people, but. . . .)
Anyway, all that is unrelated to the main point here. And I do have one. What I have in mind is recipe inventions -- which have been occurring more these days than when I am feeling off my food and/or off my game. What happens sometimes is I read and read and then make something half way between recipe X and recipe Y. Or, I have this ingredient and that and.... I invent. This time I was reading quinoa and related salad recipes and here is what emerged: quinoa salad. Surprising, eh? Well, no. But this was a very very good quinoa salad. Here's how to make it:
Make a cup of (dry) red quinoa into a fluffy, wonderful bowl of quinoa (I used a rice cooker.)
Add to it: 1 1/2 preserved lemons diced (skins only; you can occasionally now find these in local groceries, but I made my own out of frustration one day ages ago and continue to do so; to find out how, click here); diced cucumber (maybe 1/2 cup): diced zucchini (I used one small, round, lovely zucchini), chopped parsley (maybe 1/4 cup),chopped mint (maybe a tablespoon?) plus some cilantro (because I confused it with parsley briefly due to my scattered storage and thinking modalities in the heat?), 4 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 tablespoons olive oil, a handful of pistacchios, and a diced small red onion. Mix together. Let sit for a bit. Eat. Eat again the next day. And maybe event the next.
The red quinoa is nutty in a nice way. A key may be making a pretty small dice of whatever you add. (And there are likely loads of other possibilities; one of the original things I read had blueberries and preserved lemon. Hmmm.) Anyway, this all worked very well together. Hurrah.
