Lisa: Quinoa Salad

I love quinoa, and have been wanting to try a quinoa salad recipe. The opportunity came this week, when it was my turn to bring snack for the parents at preschool. Lots of chopping involved, but results were worthwhile. I'd make it again.

Source: finecooking.com via Lisa on Pinterest

The tastiest parts to me were the balsamic vinegar red onions, apples and cheese. The fennel and celery add additional crunch. So fun to cook with fennel. It's a rarity for me. The kids enjoyed trying it for the first time, too.

It tasted even better to me after a day or two of letting the flavors soak in and mingle in the refrigerator. And no problems with wilting; everything keeps nicely.

Substitutions (suggested by the friend who passed on the recipe):

-Spinach instead of arugula

-Red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar

-I chose Pink Lady apples, and loved the tart-sweet flavor

Also, I wanted to use Parrano cheese instead of Gouda, but didn't find any at the store

For the quinoa, I used organic tri-color from Trader Joe's, and cooked it in the rice cooker instead of on the stovetop.

I set aside a small amount of salad without the balsamic vinegar red onions or red wine vinegar (for those with dietary restrictions prohibiting alcohol), and I actually ended up really liking that version, too. It's less tangy without the vinegar, so it's a milder combo of veggie flavors, olive oil, salt and pepper. If I were short on time, I might make that one, since it would cut the step of cooking the red onions.

Bonus - my 6-year-old even ate some as a side for her dinner.

Somen Salad with Egg, Char Siu, Lettuce, and Green Onion

Recipe from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

Tonight, I tried this recipe for somen salad and both the husband and toddler liked it well enough that I'm adding it to our summer meal rotation. It's a nice and light, refreshing dish, great for summer since it is served cold or at room temp, and as Lisa pointed out in a different post, good for picnics and potlucks. The husband ate two big bowls while the toddler carefully picked each noodle up one by one and slurped it up (although she can use a fork, this method helps her weed out any other ingredient but noodle and dressing).

The recipe was very easy to make, mostly just chopping and mixing ingredients. The somen itself takes only two minutes to cook in boiling water. My only changes were that I left out the kamaboko (fish cakes) because I didn't have them and I used less oil than the recipe calls for and substituted some sesame oil in place of the canola oil. This dish will definitely make it on the menu for a party or picnic and I may try adding edamame, julienned carrots and/or cucumber, next time around to see if I can get some veggies into the toddler.