I've been reading Gluten Free Girl and the Chef's blog on a pretty regular basis lately. She writes about some pretty amazing looking food and I'm often inspired to get in the kitchen after I read it. But when I go back to the post to look again, I feel like I used to when I would read through Martha Stewart's magazine - that in reality, the recipes are either just a little too complicated, a little too expensive for the lengthy list of ingredients, or just a little over my skill level. But I recently saw this post for Spring Quinoa Salad and it looked like something potentially more my speed, both in skill and ingredients. And with the weather heating up, the last thing I've wanted to do lately is eat some crock pot, "home cooking" type of meal (illustrated by the 3/4 of a meatloaf still in the fridge that was supposed to have been eaten by now). I decided to give this a shot and use some of the ingredients I had on hand to help the old grocery budget.
So during Addy's nap today I got motivated and pickled the onions. The recipe said to "french cut" them, and at the time I didn't want to take the 30 seconds to read about it. As I look now, it looks like I actually did a mostly french cut. I also realized that I in fact did not have the quinoa that I thought I had, so I cooked some brown rice instead.
So during Addy's nap today I got motivated and pickled the onions. The recipe said to "french cut" them, and at the time I didn't want to take the 30 seconds to read about it. As I look now, it looks like I actually did a mostly french cut. I also realized that I in fact did not have the quinoa that I thought I had, so I cooked some brown rice instead.
"French cut" red onions
Pickeling liquid
Finished onions
The onions smelled great as they cooked in the briny liquid and my mouth was watering the whole time. Then I preceded to wash the pan and make rice krispie treats. :-P Very productive nap time!
Then at dinnertime I finished up the rest of the recipe. I had some lettuce from our CSA pick up this week, so I just used that. I also didn't have champagne vinegar, so I used some pear vinegar I had with some extra virgin olive oil. I did chop up some asparagus, so that part was the same.
Then at dinnertime I finished up the rest of the recipe. I had some lettuce from our CSA pick up this week, so I just used that. I also didn't have champagne vinegar, so I used some pear vinegar I had with some extra virgin olive oil. I did chop up some asparagus, so that part was the same.
My salad!
The result was super yummy. The rice was not nearly as complex a flavor and texture as the quinoa would have been, but the sweeter dressing was a great combo with the spicy andouille sausage. Addy loved the sausage, too, so that was a fun find. So I'm proud of myself for trying something so "foodie" - maybe I will be less intimidated to try more of their recipes now that I can say I've pickled onions.
