Asparagus and Quinoa Salad with Crumbled Feta
Things that I’ve been eating that I haven’t made myself:
>Smoked salmon fish tacos from Salmon Fusion, a food cart downtown. The salmon itself was awesome, as was the spicy sauce on top, but the tortilla, cabbage slaw, and saffron rice left a little to be desired.
>Chef Rick’s Favorite Burger at Bistro Marquee, before going to a lecture by Hillary Clinton. The burger had pork belly, pimento cheese and fried onion straws. SO GOOD.
>Pad Khee Mao at My BoonKrong Thai, a food cart downtown. A different set of veggies than I’m used to in mao, some tender slices of chicken, and spice that wasn’t a joke. I love when my spice tolerance is taken seriously.
Otherwise it’s lots of Kure Juice Bar and catered food at the office. Sunday was another purposeful trip to the store to make dinner. I crave the grocery store. Is that weird? It’s been nice, and light out, so grilling is a given. I’m really liking making a nice salad with some grilled meats. This was a super comforting salad. Feta melts into that quinoa turning it creamy, but not too rich. It felt very Mediterranean with the currants, olive oil, balsamic and lemon zest. I served it along side some rosemary garlic lamb shoulders. Tender lamb is the best.
Inspiration: William Sonoma
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups + 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup dried currants
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced into half moons
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1lb asparagus, woody ends trimmed and chopped into pieces
- 1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- Zest of one lemon
- 4oz feta, crumbled
Preparation
Bring 2 cups of chicken broth and the quinoa to a boil in a saucepan. Add the currants and reduce the heat to a simmer before covering. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Leave the lid on, but remove from heat.
In a large pan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Season with a heavy sprinkling of salt and pepper. When the onions start to brown, about 5-6 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding the asparagus. Pour in the rest of the chicken broth so it cooks the asparagus until its tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the quinoa, half of the feta, parsley, and lemon zest. Remove from the heat, and taste for seasoning. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and top with feta before serving.
Lecture by Hillary Clinton?? Was it good? I’ve seen Barack Obama but not Hillary!
And also I love fish tacos – had them in San Diego about five years ago and have never been able to find anything as good since.
It was a really good lecture. It was at the World Leadership Council of Oregon, and she was headlining their first all-woman speaker series. It was a little all over the place in terms of topics — Putin, talking about her book, detailing how she’s advocating for women and girls in the world, how she finally came to say yes to Obama for the Secretary position, and then a bunch of random questions from the audience. She’s a great speaker, and very good at catering to her audience. But, like most politicians, by the time she answered a questions, I would be like, “What was the question again?”
Apparently there are some really good fish tacos to be had in Portland, but it’s not something I’ve ever really sought out.
Craving the grocery store is the opposite of weird, especially after weeks of catering & restaurants. HOMEMADE SALAD.
I’ve had friends not believe me that it’s TOTALLY possible to crave salad/vegetables. They thought I was nuts.