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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Quinoa, Grilled Asparagus and Mango Salad








I’m currently taking a 2-week course for teachers who want to teach Hospitality in high school.  With the onslaught of zany cooking shows (“Bitchin’ Kitchen” being one of them) and rising number of celebrity chefs with “God-like” status, careers in the culinary field are becoming more and more popular among teens, and schools are cluing in that not everyone graduating from high school are university-bound.  Some will go to college to learn a trade, become an apprentice or find a job, most likely in a restaurant.  Hence, more high schools are offering cooking/hospitality courses to train the next Bobby Flay or Susur Lee as early as possible. 


Last Friday, the course topic was salads and 23 would-be high school cooking teachers were set loose at St. Lawrence and Kensington Markets in search of salad ingredients, each group with a $20-budget.  Now when people think salads, we tend to limit ourselves to lettuces and starch salads, but roaming around St. Lawrence Market is enough to inspire anyone to make salads out of anything: dozens of varieties of grains, exotic fruits, local and imported cheeses, fresh seafood and so on.


Back in the kitchen, an hour of preparation led to a beautiful spread of an array of salads including Orange and Bocconcini with Balsamic  Vinaigrette, Potato and Egg, Greek Salad to name a few.  Here’s the recipe for the Quinoa, Mango and Grilled Asparagus Salad which our group made.   I’ve featured quinoa in another dish from a previous post.  It’s becoming my favourite grain.  Rube’s on the lower level of St. Lawrence Market sells a variety of this ancient South American grain. 


Quinoa, Mango and Grilled Asparagus Salad





Ingredients


1½ cups                quinoa
1                            mango (diced)
1 bunch                asparagus (washed, ends cut off)
¼ cup                    sunflower seed (or pumpkin seed)
1 bunch                Thai basil leaves (cut into strips, chiffonade)


Dressing


8 cloves                roasted garlic (minced)
3 Tbsp                  curry paste
1/8  cup               apple cider vinegar
 1/4 cup               extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp                  honey
Pinch                    ground cumin (optional)
Pinch                    ground coriander (optional)
Pinch                    salt
Pinch                    pepper



1.       In a medium bowl, rinse quinoa and drain (twice).

2.      Bring salted water to boil.
3.      Add quinoa, lower heat to a simmer and cook quinoa for about 20 min. or until it is tender.

4.      Drain quinoa and run cold water on it.  Drain and set aside.
5.       Grill or pan fry the asparagus in a little bit of olive oil until lightly charred.  Sprinkle salt and let cool.  Cut into ¼ inch slices.  Leave 1 inch spear tips for garnish.

6.      Toast sunflower seeds in a frying pan for about 5 min or until golden brown.  Let cool.

7.      In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mango, asparagus, basil, and toasted pumpkin seeds (save some for garnish).  Mix well.
8.      Make dressing by combining all ingredients.  Add to the salad mixture.  Adjust seasoning.  Mix well and let stand in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving. 

9.      Mix salad again before serving.  Top with asparagus tips and remaining pumpkin seed.


NOTE:  You can basically use any dressing that you wish.  I opted for the exotic taste of curry. 

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