Guest Blog Post — Quinoa Salad by Seattle Mary

Happy summer, foodies! Today’s guest post, #1 in a series of 3, comes from our friend Seattle Mary. Mary (pictured left), a NY native and A-Tooch’s former foodie partner in crime, has been living in Seattle for a while now. She also has been living a vegan lifestyle for a while now (a big shocker, you can imagine, to someone who spent the better part of one summer consuming burgers and pizzas with this girl!) We asked her to convince us that vegan is delish with a sweet and a savoury recipe, as well as a remake of one of our favs.

Seattle Mary:  I, too, am a fellow foodie who uses precious workday “down time” to scour the web for amazing recipes and food photos. I was incredibly thrilled when I was asked if I’d be interested in doing a guest blog. I’ve always been a food lover, and I’m convinced this being one of the many reasons A-Tooch and I’ve become great pals.

Just over a year ago, I began to entertain the idea of eliminating all animal products from my diet. I read numerous books about the benefits of such lifestyle and decided I would become (in the words of vegan powerhouse Kathy Freston) “veganish,” as I still from time to time will have something with dairy in it because let’s face it, ultimately I do eat what I really want to eat. I’d say the transformation of my tastes has really been amazing. I have been opened up to an exciting world of fresh, delicious foods that I had never tried, or sometimes never even heard of, before. Things taste even more flavorful to me now, and I really enjoy cooking and whipping up an enticing recipe that I found online.

I must disclaim that I’m not yet to the point where I can create anything that would have any resemblance to a masterpiece. I’m a much better recipe follower than recipe creator. I do, however, add my own twists to recipes and I’m all for the notion of using what you’ve got. And I’m a HUGE fan of simple. I am easily and quickly turned off by a recipe that calls for a lot of random stuff that you wouldn’t normally have at home. I’m a lover of quick and easy salads for weekday lunches — I could easily live on said salads. I often make one on Sunday to divide up and have for a few lunches during the week. Here’s one of my recent favorites:

Quinoa Salad

2 cups uncooked quinoa
1 ¾ cup water
1 red bell pepper, small chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 ½ cups corn, blanched for one minute in boiling water then drained
5 to 6 radishes, thinly sliced
¼ of a red onion, or 2 scallions; thinly sliced
½ cup chopped cilantro/basil/parsley (whichever you have on hand or prefer, sometimes I combine two)
Juice of one lime
Couple tablespoons olive oil
Clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook quinoa and water in a saucepan – bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Drain off any remaining liquid and let cool. Combine the quinoa with remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss to mix well. Add more salt/pepper/lime juice/olive oil as desired. There are so many variations this salad could take on. Chopped carrots and cucumbers would be great additions or substitutions!