Curried Red Quinoa Salad

So, I haven't posted any recipes for a few months since I've been busy finishing my PhD.  The good news is that I graduated this past weekend!

The sad news is that lately I haven't had too many culinary adventures... but now I'm excited to once again enjoy some of my favorite recipes and also try new recipes.

For my graduation, I celebrated in true Fairbanks style— with a potluck!  There were a number of people I wish could have joined, including my friends Karen and Markus. 

Karen finished her PhD last May, so they're off traveling the world for a year.  So far, they've backpacked around South America and bike toured around Europe.  They'll be back in Alaska for the summer, and you can follow their travels at http://2enroute.blogspot.com/

So, to include them at the potluck in spirit, I made a recipe that I received from Karen.  Originally it was a curried wheat berry salad.  One of the alternations I made to the recipe is that I substitute red quinoa for wheat berries to make it gluten-free.

Curried Red Quinoa Salad

Dressing
¼ c lime juice
½ c olive oil
1 ½  tsp curry powder
½  tsp cayenne powder
½  tsp cumin

Salad

2 c red quinoa

3-4 scallions (sliced thin)
1 c walnuts (chopped)
½ bunch cilantro (chopped)
1 c dried cranberries
1 tart apple (diced)

   
In a medium saucepan, add 2 cups of red quinoa with 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until all the water is absorbed (~15 minutes).
 

After the quinoa is cooked, set it aside to cool. 

In a glass jar, mix together the dressing ingredients.

 

Chop and dice the scallions, walnuts, cilantro, and apples.

Add the salad ingredients and dressing to the quinoa.

Stir together ingredients and toss with the dressing.

(If not serving immediately, stir in cilantro and walnuts just before serving).

Serve cold or at room temp.

Ginger-Garlic Coleslaw

While I was out in Dillingham last week, I was hanging out with my friends Nathan and Kelly who live out there.  Nathan and I are old friends from grad school, and back in the day, he use to host "Buffy Nights" at his cabin in Fairbanks.

He's brought the tradition out to Dillingham on Saturday evenings and has added a fun potluck component-- every week a different ingredient is selected for people to incorporate in their dish.  Since I was scheduled to fly out on Saturday, Nathan decided to switch Buffy night to Friday so I could join in.  The slight problem with Friday night was that Kelly was down in Perryville for work and because of the flight schedules and planes only fly into Perryville a few days a week, she wouldn't get back home until Saturday, and Nathan, a middle school teacher, would be chaperoning the middle school dance on Friday night.  So I was tasked with hosting the evening.

The previous winner of the the informal potluck dish competition selection "green" as the ingredient-- not exactly a ingredient, but that's what she selected for the St. Patrick's Day Buffy night which was postponed for this weekend, so green it was.

Kelly had mentioned that they had a head of cabbage in the fridge, so I decided to make some coleslaw as my green dish.  I headed to the AC-- the Alaska Commercial grocery (random bit of knowledge-- the AC company is formerly know as the Hudson's Bay Co.) store to pick up some fresh ginger for the coleslaw.

I love shopping at the AC's across Alaska because I always find some random things that I never find in other stores.  I may be the only person who looks forward to heading out to rural communities to go shopping.  No wonder with prices like these...

 

So, I headed back and started assembling the ingredients.  Cabbage, carrots, fresh garlic and ginger, chili powder, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.

 

The one ingredient missing was some sesame oil, but I couldn't find any.  Whenever I travel out to rural Alaska, I always bring some food with me since, especially with the smaller communities, you never know what will be available-- especially gluten-free-- or how much it will cost (if there even is a store).  One thing I had brought with me is some Trader Joe's sesame honey cashews, so I mined some sesame seeds from the bottom of the bag.

I don't really have specific amounts that I use when making this coleslaw.  Basically, sliver up the cabbage and then chop to make it somewhat bite-size pieces.  Shred the carrots and mix them in a bowl.  Then add three cloves of crushed garlic and grate a chunk of ginger about the size of your thumb.  Finally, add a dash of chili powder and a splash of rice, soy sauce, and sesame oil (if I had it, though the sesame seeds added a nice touch).

The smorgasbord of foods with green was pretty impressive

and there was Jason and his Big Papa pickle.  He actually did win the contest for the best dish with his chicken and green bell pepper tacos with salsa verde, but hasn't announced what the ingredient is for the next potluck is.

We never actually did watch any episodes of Buffy.  There was talk of playing Cranium, but the play doh had crystallized.  It was a fun night hanging out with an interesting group of folks.