August 30, 2010

Seafood quinoa salad


I've been trying to wean my parents off white rice for awhile now (it's tough when you're Asian). They don't like brown rice, and my mother isn't a fan of anything whole wheat. Enter quinoa. I love quinoa, but I needed to find a way to make it somewhat rice like. My solution? Warm seafood quinoa salad, cooked in a saffron broth.

The result? Clean plates and request for seconds. What more can a cook want?

Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients for broth
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cup of diced white onions
- 1/2 bulb of garlic (diced)
- 3 lobster tails
- 1 piece of salmon (approximately 1/2 pound)

Ingredients for the salad
- 1.5 cups of quinoa
- 0.5 cups of diced white onions
- 1 cup of fresh parsley (roughly chopped)
- 10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 sweet green pepper (chopped)

Directions for broth
- Bring the chicken stock and water to a boil.
- Add onions and garlic - letting it simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Add the lobster tails - they'll cook very quickly, so keep an eye on them.
- Remove the lobster tails from the broth.
- Separate the lobster meat from the shell.
- Add the shells back to the broth and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Chop up the lobster meat and set aside.
- Bring the broth back to a boil - place the salmon on a strainer or a ladle and then submerge it in the bubbling broth.
- Use a fork and flake the salmon to check if it's cooked - if it's pink and flaky, remove it from the broth. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat to low.

Directions for quinoa
- Bring about 3 cups of broth to a boil
- Add the quinoa and the onions
- Wait for the mixture to boil
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook the quinoa until the liquid evaporates (approximately 12 minutes)
- Remove the quinoa from the heat and fluff it.
- Let the quinoa sit (with the lid on) for about 15 minutes.

Directions for the salad
- After the quinoa has sat for 15 minutes, add the fresh ingredients (pepper, tomatoes, and parsley).
- Add the chopped lobster and the salmon.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix everything together (the salmon should flake apart).
- Enjoy.

(I also added cooked corn - sliced off the cob).


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