with Butternut Squash, Toasted Cashews, Red Apple and Elderflower Curry Dressing
It’s fair to say that quinoa hasn’t commanded a lot of space at my dinner table. Like many people, I think I knew what it was, and that it had become a favourite with many of the particularly health-conscious among us, but I had never sought it out or cooked with it. I have to admit to probably being rather dismissive of it really – unjustified – but there you are. I think most of us are occasionally guilty of assuming we don’t like something without ever trying it. What we actually do is box it away in our minds for future ‘trial’ and then never get it out. That same box can be happily broken open by a friend making it one day or ordering it at a restaurant and saying ‘taste this’.
And so it was with red quinoa. I tasted a friend’s lunch order some time ago and thought, oh, I do like that. You probably don’t want to have lunch with me – I always want to taste everything.
Serves 2
base of 1 butternut squash, peeled, hollowed and diced
1 tbsp ginger-flavoured rapeseed oil, or plain oil
sea salt
200g (1 cup) red quinoa
For the elderflower curry dressing
½ tsp mild curry powder (page 280)
1 tbsp cane vinegar or white wine vinegar
½ tbsp elderflower cordial
1 tbsp agave syrup
1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt
1 red apple
25g (¼ cup) toasted cashew nuts
1 tsp Keralan peppercorns, ground
4 lemon wedges
* Coat the diced squash in the ginger oil and sea salt and roast on a roasting tray for 20–25 minutes at 200°C (400°F). You want just a little charring on the edges.
Prepare the quinoa according to your packet instructions and set aside to cool.
Combine the dressing ingredients and set aside to infuse well.
Once the squash has cooked and cooled slightly, core and dice the red apple and add to the cooled quinoa, along with the cooled squash, toasted cashew nuts and ground Keralan pepper. Mix through the dressing and gently stir to combine. Check for seasoning, adding a little salt if you wish. Serve with wedges of lemon.
How to speak Quinoa [Keen-Wha]
Quinoa is a more interesting product than you might think. First of all, it’s not actually a grain you’re eating – botanically speaking, it’s a relative of spinach, beets and chard. We actually eat the seeds, which is why it’s gluten-free. It’s also a ‘complete protein’ due to the fact that it contains all nine essential amino acids that cannot be made by our bodies and which we therefore require from food. Impressed already, aren’t you?
An Andean plant from South America, it was originally cultivated and used some 3000–4000 years ago before being somewhat sidelined by Spanish intervention in favour of cereals. There are over 100 varieties of quinoa, although the commercially available red, white and black are enough for most of us. It was celebrated with its own International Year of Quinoa in 2013 by the United Nations, and much deserved it was. Incidentally, as I write, we are currently in the International Year of Pulses. More silverware for the plant-based food trophy cabinet!