Skip to main content

Quinoa Salad Recipe - Gluten Free

palm beach personal chef


Print Friendly and PDF


Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) has been grown for thousands of years in the Andes mountains in South America. It is often thought of as a grain, but it is actually the seed of a leafy green plant called Chenopodium (also known as goosefoot), which is related to Swiss chard and spinach.  


The first time I encountered quinoa I was living with my cousin in Manhattan on the lower east side.  She was not the most handy person in the kitchen.  When I walked in she yelled from her bedroom that the air-popper may be broken as she tried to “pop” the little seeds like you would pop corn and they got sucked into the air vents.  

Serves 4

2 ½ cups/625ml water or vegetable broth
2 cups/450ml quinoa
2 cups/450ml broccoli
¼ cup/59ml red bell pepper
¼ cup/59ml yellow bell pepper
¼ cup/60ml canola oil
2 tablespoons/30ml fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon/2ml salt
¼ teaspoon/1ml black pepper

Bring water or broth to a boil (if using water add salt). Add quinoa, lower heat, cover and simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed (15-20 minutes).  Add broccoli to quinoa the last 5 minutes and allow to steam on top to just soften.  Add the bell peppers to cooked mixture.  In small bowl, whisk the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper well.  Pour over salad.  This can be eaten hot, cold or room temperature.

private chefs and event catering

Palm Beach + Boca Raton + Fort Lauderdale + Miami Beach
info@yadachef.com | 954-367-YADA (9232)
561-285-7466

south florida catering and personal chefs

Popular posts from this blog

European Crusty Rolls and Recipe

There is an art to making those wonderful rolls and every crusty bread you find in France. There are also rules to make sure you are gett ing only the finest of products. We have been working to Take the Mystery Out of the Kitchen. Below you will find a recipe that will result in the most delicious, crusty on the outside and chewy on the in with a wonderful crumb. Let us first explain a bit about the rules all French bakers (at least in Paris) must abide by. Article 1 -- Bread called "pain maison" or an equivalent name can only be sold under those names if the bread has been entirely kneaded, worked and cooked on their place of sale to the ultimate consumer. However, this denomination can also be used when the bread is sold away from the premises to the ultimate consumer by the professional who ensured that the operations of kneading, shaping and cooking occurred at the same place. Article 2 -- Bread called "pain de tradition française", "pain tradi...

Pastes that put the Pizzaz in your Plate

It is grilling season again.  One of the biggest problems is over-cooked under seasoned meat, fish and vegetables.  That and everything soaked in ooyie gooyie red stuff be it “BBQ” sauce or ketchup.  We find that quick pastes or “wet rubs” both flavour and help your foods brown nicely.  So whether your in the mood for a something with a bit of fruit, Indian, Moroccan, Asian inspired and more we've found some quick and easy recipes to help you YaDa Too! Floribbean Pineapple   white fish, chicken, and pork 1 tablespoon/15ml coconut oil 4 teaspoons/20ml cumin 1/2 cup/125ml pineapple juice concentrate (sub grated, drained fresh or canned pineapple) Apple Curry   sword fish, tuna, chicken, pork, lamb 1 tablespoon/15ml canola oil 1 tablespoons/30ml curry paste (you can used 2 times the powder if you do not have the paste) 1/2 cup apple juice concentrate Jerk Style   fish, chicken, pork, lamb, mutton, beef 1 tablespoon...

How to Stay Healthy on a Gluten-Free Diet

While the movement to label boxes of food as “gluten-free” has certainly made a gluten-free diet much easier, eating right on any diet can be a challenge.  Gluten-free diets can be just as healthy or unhealthy as any other diet, so it’s important to watch what you eat and ensure you are receiving adequate nutrition.  Follow some tips to get your gluten-free diet off to the right start. Stay Positive It’s an adjustment to go gluten-free, particularly if you’ve had foods with gluten your entire life up to this point.  Don’t focus on what you can’t eat but rather what you can -- you can open up your palette to new flavors you might not have tried before.  Allow yourself some mistakes from trial-and-error as you discover what foods you might have to cut out and what foods you can add to your diet.  Don’t cheat, either -- if you’ve experienced some negative symptoms of celiac disease or just general gluten intolerance, you know even a tiny bit of gl...

Do you Remember Herman? Sourdough Starter and Recipe

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Amish friendship bread, as well as an interchangeable starter referred to as Herman (the name varies), became a popular exchange among friends who shared the starter as well as recipes. Herman Starter Preparation time: 10 minutes Standing time: 5 days Yield: 4 cups 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup warm water 2 packages (2 1/4 teaspoons each) active dry yeast 2 cups each: milk, flour 1. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the warm water. Sprinkle yeast over mixture; set aside until doubled in volume, about 10 minutes. 2. Combine milk, flour, remaining sugar and yeast mixture in a plastic or glass container. (Do not use metal.) Stir with a wooden spoon; cover loosely. Set aside at room temperature, at least 8 hours. 3. Stir mixture once a day for three days. On the fourth day, measure out 1 cup of Herman for baking; measure 1 additional cup to give to a friend as a gift. To replenish starter: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk and 1...

Béchamel or Veloute Starting with the Basics (Recipe Included)

When starting out in the professional kitchen, whether it is via a classroom or in a real live restaurant it is best to start with the basics. When starting the “sauces” portion of education you start with the basics which are usually stocks, broths etc. You also learn the basics of building the sauces and eventually work up to the “Saucier”. The Saucier (sauce maker or sauté cook prepares sauce and warm hors d’oeuvres, completes dishes and might sauté items). A saucier is just below the sous chef, and as such is a much respected position. There are two basic sauces that are the base of many, many classic dishes and once you master these you can greatly expand your culinary repertoire. They are the béchamel and veloute sauces. The base of both sauces start with a “roux”. A roux is a combination of a fat, usually butter, and flour in equal proportions. The butter is melted over medium low to medium heat. The flour is sprinkled on, stirred to combine then cooked for 1-2 minute...

Gluten Free Minorcan Clam Chowder Recipe

This Floridian favorite — allegedly introduced by the Spanish who came over from the island of Minorca — is tomato-based and usuall y the hottest of all chowders. It contains several types of peppers, including habanero and, critically, datil chiles (hard to find anywhere except St. Augustine Florida). The Spanish were the first well-documented Europeans to settle the North American shores, there is no reason not to think that this was the first European clam chowder in the Americas. 1/8 pound/57g salt pork or smoked bacon chopped fine 2 large onions chopped 1 bell pepper chopped 2 cups/480g fresh clams, chopped fine, juice reserved 1-2 datil peppers, minced 3 cups/540g canned plum tomatoes drained, seeded, and chopped 1/2 cup/125ml tomato puree 1/2 tablespoon thyme, crumbled 1/2 tablespoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1-2 bay leaves crushed 2- 8 ounce bottles clam juice 3 cups/710ml fish stock 2 cups/306g new potatoes, diced Saute pork in ...

Healthy Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

So many people in the USA have leftovers after Thanksgiving. Although to me the best are the turkey and stuffing sandwiches. Here is a tried and true recipe. Although many think of this as an Italian dish. It is believed to have been created by Ernest Arbogast, chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco CA in honour of the Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini.  *Tip for sauce. It is generally thick enough when you dip a spoon in it and if you run your finger down the back a line is made in the sauce. Serves 4 396 calories 4 ounce/125g baby bella mushrooms 4 ounce/125g mixed mushrooms 1 tablespoon/15ml olive oil 4 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces ¼ teaspoon/1ml salt 1/8 teaspoon/.5ml black pepper 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced 1 cup/250ml white wine 1 pound/450g spaghetti 2 ½ cups 625ml rice milk mixed with 2 tablespoons/30ml cornstarch handful vegan parmesan cheese 10 basil leaves, torn into pieces Preheat the oven to 400F/204C/GasMark 6. Cook...

Here's What That Drawer Underneath Your Oven Is Actually For

If you're like us, you probably use that big drawer underneath your stove to hoard cookie sheets, muffin tins, and bulky skillets. But regardless of what you put in it, we bet you aren't using that space for its intended purpose: a warming drawer. Yep, that's right. It sounds crazy that appliance manufacturers expect us to let such a large potential storage space sit empty, but on some oven models, it's designed to be a spot to keep your food warm. If you're skeptical, just dig up your oven's owner's manual. You may find a description like this: "The warming drawer is designed to keep hot foods at serving temperature. Always start with hot food. Cold or room-temperature foods cannot be heated, warmed, or cooked in the warming drawer." This news may or may not come as a surprise to you, but if you think you'd miss the extra storage space, we have a solution. Continue storing your extra pots and pans in the drawer—and then just empt...

Why Do We Sometimes Call Aluminum Foil "Tin Foil”?

In the early part of the 20th century, most of the foil produced was, in fact, made of tin. It was used in packaging—cigarette packs were lined with it and chewing gum sticks were wrapped in it—and also for wrapping leftover food. The problem was, it gave whatever it touched a distinctive “tinny” taste, just like foods left too long in a tin can.  Tin foil had other uses, too. It was also used as a recording medium for a time (Thomas Edison’s famous 1877 recitation of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was on tin), but because the recordings didn’t last very long, manufacturers switched to wax cylinders. In 1926, the U.S. Foil Company (the parent company of Reynolds Metals) introduced aluminum foil. It was an immediate hit. The material was lightweight, non-corrosive, and less expensive than other foils to produce, since it could be rolled much thinner and the yield per roll was much higher. One of the first commercially available products available pre-wrapped in alum...