Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad

So now you have made your own harissa.  What can you do with it?  Harissa has a bit of a kick due to chilies which are in it.  Below is a recipe which conveniently uses exactly the same amount as the harissa recipe I posted.  This also is based upon at home in the whole food kitchen.  This recipe uses a bunch of fresh vegetables which are then roasted to bring out their sweetness, tossed with quinoa and harissa to balance out the flavors.  It also store well and although best eaten at room temperature, it is also delicious cold if you are like me and can't wait for it to be brought to room temperature before eating it.

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Harissa

serves 4-6

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 medium red, orange or yellow peppers, seed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups cherry tomatoes

5 -6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

sea salt

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges

4 cups cooked quinoa, cooled to room temperature

1/3 cup harissa

1/2 cup chopped flat leafed parsley

5 oz. feta cheese (I really like the 360 brand at whole foods)

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line 2 baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place zucchini, peppers, tomatoes in a large bowl and toss with 3-4 tablespoons olive oil and about a 1/2 teaspoons salt.  Divide the vegetables between the two parchment lined baking sheets and place in the preheated oven to roast for about 30 minutes.  Be sure vegetables are in a single flat layer or it will roast unevenly.  Stir vegetables every 10 minutes to ensure even browning.  Once vegetables are lightly browned, remove from oven and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion and saute for about 5-6 minutes or until just turning lightly brown.  Cook on lower heat for another 10-15 minutes to caramelize the onions.  Stir every couple of minutes to ensure that the onion doesn't burn.

Transfer quinoa to a large bowl.  Fluff with a fork and then add the harissa to the quinoa.  Mix well.  Add the roasted vegetables, onion and parsley.  Toss to combine.  Taste and season with salt as needed.  Crumble the feta cheese over the top.

Dakos (Tomato and Cracker Salad)

I have mentioned before that I like reading cookbooks.  I used to preview the cookbook before deciding if I would like to invest the money to buy it.  However, I spend some time now reading reviews and making the decision as not all cookbooks are available from the library to read before deciding to buy or not.  Certain authors or blogs I trust pretty explicitly.  Sometimes I buy a cookbook, read some or all of it and never cook from it, but still they are valuable to me.  I think some people think I am crazy to own so many cookbooks, but at times the conversation comes to a recipe and I go get the book that I am talking about as I nearly always know which cookbook something came from.  Given that I have about 200 hundred cookbooks, I think that some people are amazed that I can do this; however, some recipes are just stuck in my brain and they get filed until further need of them.  All this leads back to the cookbook that I am dedicating to March.  It has been a weird winter with a bunch of warm days in January and now again a few days of warmer weather, so now I am craving all the summer produce.  This month's task is to get to know Plenty More by Ottolenghi.  I have cooked from his other cookbooks, but this one I think will be quite a favorite by the time we start getting all the wonderful fresh summer foods.

Dakos (Tomato and Cracker Salad)  (Serves 4)
This actually reminds me of the bread salads that Italian cookbooks offer, but it is a recipe based a Greek recipe.  I can image eating this in Greece as it has many of the components of a Greek salad (which does not have lettuce) while I spent a week on a smaller Greek Island.  This can only be better in summer, but it satisfied my craving for a salad just before Spring.

1 pound cherry tomatoes (find the sweetest ones you can), cut into halves
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I used one with pomegranate in it)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3.5-5 oz. rye crispbread, broken into about 1 inch pieces or smaller
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese(the closest I have been able to find to Greek feta is the Whole Foods 360 brand)
5-10 black olives (I used Kalamata olives), pitted and roughly cut
4 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper

Put the tomatoes, red onion, vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a good grind of black pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon) in a large bowl, mix lightly and set aside.  I let mine sit for about 30 minutes so all the flavors and get mixed together.

Spread out crackers in the bottom of a salad bowl (divide into 4 bowls).  Spoon the tomato mixture equally on top of each set of crackers.  Sprinkle on feta cheese, olives, parsley and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.  (Add additional salt or pepper if desired.)

Farro Salad with Mint, Zucchini and Feta Cheese

Farro Salad with Mint, Zucchini and Feta Cheese

I few weeks before I made this salad I made another using farro (http://invitedtodinner.blogspot.com/2013/08/summer-farro-salad-with-tomatoes.html).  I had forgotten how much I liked the texture and flavor of this ancient grain.  Since I still had some remaining and I was given some zucchini, I decided I should really cook it again and soon.  This recipe is adapted from Jaime Oliver's America.

I have been hesitant to try mint with other savory foods, but I am not sure why.  Maybe because I think it is simply wonderful as a drink and couldn't quite figure out how that would work in a salad.  Peppermint however is very different from sweet mint which I used in this recipe.  It also compliments zucchini very well.  I also used a sweeter Anaheim red pepper for this recipe which while not very spicy, complimented the flavors as well.  Finally, the feta sets everything off so don't forget to add it!

Farro Salad with Mint, Zucchini and Feta Cheese
1 cup farro, cooked with chicken stock
olive oil
1 small-medium zucchini
1 small-medium yellow squash (or just double the zucchini)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (or pressed)
2 fresh Anaheim chiles
3-4 scallions, chopped into thin slices
1 lemon
feta cheese - about 1/3 pound or to your taste, cubed or crumbled into smaller pieces

Cook the farro with the chicken stock for about 20 minutes or until cooked, but not mushy.  Drain and set aside.  In a medium pan (or large enough for vegetables and farro), put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (I rarely measure, but enough to coat the zucchini when hot).  When the oil is hot (use a medium-high heat) add the zucchini, squash, garlic and most of your red chiles.  When the zucchini and squash starts to brown, add your scallions, most of the mint and then salt and pepper to taste (though at this point it is better to use little since there will be salt from the stock as well).  Grate in the zest from the lemon and then add the juice as well.  Add a little more olive oil to be sure nothing is sticking to the pan.

Add the farro and toss everything together, making sure that everything has been well mixed.  Remove from heat and let room to room temperature.  Fold in the rest of your mint and your crumbled feta cheese.  I also added some leftover scallions.  Serve at room temperature, but this also keeps well in the refrigerator.

Serves 2-4