Quinoa Salad with Raisins

I can already here you on this one. "Walkers, we're cool with fajita salads and magical hamburgers, but we're not on board with you guys on quinoa, whatever that is."

And to that, I say this: Beep-beep, everyone. All-aboard the QUINOA EXPRESS, suckers.

Because, and this is strictly Real Talk here, this recipe is extremely light and delicious, and is the kind of thing that crackers and spring days were made for.

I'll admit, I wasn't ready to roll on this, but sometimes a meal is far, far greater than the sum of its parts. You're telling me that some weird grain crap, mixed with raisins (nature's candy, if you're a hippie), garlic, pine nuts, and other weird random stuff, produces something as glorious as this?

But it did. And I tore through this salad with The Quickness. I mean, seriously, it was gone in no time. As I alluded to before, serve it cold on crackers and it becomes The Perfect Snack. (DW)

1 cup quinoa (this is a grain, which kind of reminds me of couscous)
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
¼ cup raisins
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper, to taste

Place quinoa in dry saucepan and cook over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add 1 ¾ cup water (or chicken stock) to pan and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat, and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Remove the toasted pine nuts from the pan and set aside. In the same pan that you just used for the pine nuts, and the olive oil and garlic. Sautee for about 1 minute, or just long enough to bring out the garlic flavor, but not to burn it. Set aside the garlic, reserving the oil as well.

Add cooked quinoa, toasted pine nuts, remaining olive oil, garlic, parsley, raisins, lemon juice in a bowl and mix with a fork to fluff the quinoa. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve this salad warm or cold. (AW)

*This recipe is courtesy of The Food Network Magazine- April 2010