i have always liked and known what quinoa is for a while now, but there is a certain recent video that i can’t quite say the word without singing the song…and laughing. granted not a bad thing…

last week i was working on a commercial, and they had to bring in a caterer last minute, because (shocker, i know) they didn’t finish by lunch like they had planned. well, this caterer had a salad that inspired this dish:

  • 3 ears of corn, roasted on a grill with oil and chili powder, then cut off the cob

  • 1 cup dry red quinoa, boiled in 2 cups of water, with a bit of salt for 10-15 minutes, drained
  • 1 cup red onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped, stems included
  • 2 limes
  • olive oil
  • s+p

toss the corn, quinoa, onion, garlic and cilantro together. squeeze in the juice of 2 limes and drizzle some olive oil over the salad. toss to combine. add s+p to taste.

i am not often inspired by dishes from caterers that feed me on film/commercial/tv sets, but this one was really good.

note: all the above ingredients were purchased at a farmers market, with the exception of the quinoa and canola oil from trader joe’s and the spices from penzeys. i was nowhere near a whole foods parking lot during the creation of this dish.

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