Quinoa Salad with lemon zest

I have another quinoa salad on this blog, but this is a new one I came across recently. I made a few modifications, you can add and subtract as you like.

2 cups quinoa
2 cups parsely tops
1/2 mint leaves
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1 large shallot diced
1/2 a cucumber chopped
a couple handfuls of dried cranberries

dressing:
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 tbspn white vinegar
1 lemon (zested and juiced)

(the recipe I originally used said to cook the quinoa the night before and then refrigerate overnight, I cooked it around noon, and didn't serve until dinner time)

Cooking quinoa- you want to use 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa, so in this case I needed 4 cups. I used 2 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water. You can use all broth or all water. I prefer broth for flavour.

Let the liquid boil before adding the quinoa, reduce the heat to medium low and cook with the lid on. Let it cook for about 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Set the quinoa aside to cool.

Chop the parsley and mint after washing and drying it. I prefer the parsley to be finely chopped, the mint can be a bit more coarse.

Finely chop the shallot, place this in the bottom of your salad bowl. Add the lemon zest, juice and the rest of the dressing ingredients.

Add the chopped cucumber, cranberries and halved tomatoes, stire in dressing. You can now add the cooled quinoa. Ensure that it is not lumpy or stuck together in clumps, you can break it up as you add it into the salad. Stir and serve.

At this point I ended up adding a couple cups of baby spinach leaves. I was serving this dish to a large crowd and I wasn't sure I had enough!

Sausage and Chickpea soup

I found this recipe on the province website. It was good as is, normally I change a few things but it is simple and I like that. Kind of reminds me of tortilla soup, similar flavours.

Sausage and Chickpea Soup
Serves 4
1 tablespoon (15 mL) canola or olive oil
1/2 to 1 pound (250 to 500 g) sausage meat (chicken, turkey or Italian)
1 whole bulb garlic, cloves separated, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cumin
1 can (14 ounces/398 mL) diced tomatoes, including juice
2 cups (500 mL) cooked chickpeas, or 1 can (19 ounces/540 mL), rinsed, drained
4 cups (1 L) chicken or beef stock
Lime juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sour cream (optional)
1 ripe avocado, chopped
Fresh coriander (optional)
Lime wedges (optional)

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown sausages with garlic just until sausage meat is cooked through, breaking the meat up with a spoon. Do not permit garlic to burn. Add jalapeno and cumin and cook another minute or two. Add tomatoes and their juice, chickpeas and stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes until everything is cooked through and the broth has thickened slightly. Add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot, topped with sour cream, avocado, coriander, with lime wedges alongside.Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Recipe+Sausage+Chickpea+Soup/6133936/story.html#ixzz1oBWwtju4