Going With the Grain {Avocado, Quinoa & Edamame Salad}

Quinoa is one of those "hot topic" foods and has been for a while now.  Everywhere you look, it seems to be there.  I mean if I can find a box of quinoa in little Eunice, LA...it can be found just about anywhere.

So I thought I'd go "with the grain."  This week's I Heart Cooking Clubs theme.

I've used quinoa a couple of times.  And by "a couple" I truly mean exactly two.  Once in a black bean quinoa salad type of thing.  And once as a substitute for rice in shrimp jambalaya.  I was down with that, especially the jambalaya.  The Husband and The Boy not so much.

So, for maybe a year now I've been living with this attitude that I'm the only one in the house who eats quinoa.  Could maybe, perhaps, quite possibly be a superior attitude at that.

Smugly, I decided to make Yotam Ottolenghi's (you know I still have to look up how to spell the dude's name every single time!) Avocado, Quinoa & Fava Bean Salad for my lunch a week or so ago.  I prepped as many of the components as I could a head of time.  Omitting the radishes because I don't like them.  Swapping, adding, subtracting this and that for things I had on hand.

I thought it looked pretty good.  The first few bites were.

Then it became too much of the same thing.  Over and over.

The next day I decided it needed some texture to make up for the lack of radishes.  Pine nuts tossed in.  Tomato for color.  And...why not...some goat cheese.

Unfortunately, I was never really down with this particular quinoa dish.  I liked the avocado and the dressing, but the quinoa didn't do it for me.

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The original recipe can be found HERE

Avocado, Quinoa, and Edamame Salad
adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

1 cup quinoa
2 handfuls shelled edamame
2 medium lemons
2 small ripe avocados
1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili flakes
Salt and black pepper
2 big handfuls spinach leaves
paprika

*other additions: 1 Roma tomato, diced, 2 Tbsp pine nuts, goat cheese

Cook the quinoa according to package directions.  Toss in the edamame just before draining if using frozen.  Drain, rinse, and transfer to a sheet pan to cool and dry.

Peel the lemons, removing the white pith along with the peel.  Segment the lemons into a large bowl.  Squeeze the juice from the membrane into the bowl.  Peel, deseed, and slice the avocado into the bowl with the lemon.  Toss the avocado with the lemon segments and juice.

Add the olive oil, cumin, chili flakes, and some salt and pepper to the bowl.  Gently mix.  Add the quinoa, edamame, and spinach.  Toss gently to dress.  Serve with paprika sprinkled on top.