Quinoa Salad with Almonds and Cherries and the beginning of Salad Summer

I decided my focus would be on salads this summer.  Last summer was pie but my big girl pants are still a little tight from the feasting that started in November when the blond boy and the DIL came home moved to high gear over the Christmas holidays with the curly haired boy,the baby boy, and the chicks, so salad sounded healthier.  Little did I know how traumatic this decision would be.

I chose a nice, crunchy, fresh salad that included butter lettuce to get things started.  I had everything on my list and headed to the grocery store.  There I am innocently looking in the produce aisle looking for butter lettuce and there it is.  LIVE lettuce.  You get to take it home and kill it before you put it in your salad.  WTH?  I like to buy my food DEAD.  My meat: dead, my corn and beans: dead, my lettuce: dead.  Why would I want to take it home and kill it before I eat it?

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not opposed to OTHER people killing my food for me.  I eat meat, fish, and chicken, but it looks like meat, not the animal it was, by the time I get it.  My mom will tell stories about me fishing in Colorado without a hook.  So why would I want to kill my lettuce?  I want to buy dead lettuce.

Well, I couldn't get over it so I changed the salad for the week.  I bought dead cherries (at $6.00 a pound in Fairbanks!  Don't tell my husband), I had quinoa already dead at home, and a few other things to make this delicious salad.  It is full of fiber and protein so the perfect thing for a light lunch.

Enjoy.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
3 tablespoons almond oil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cherries, pitted and cut in quarters
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
1 English cucumber, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons thinly sliced mint leaves

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan set over high heat, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and has absorbed all the water, about 12 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Transfer the quinoa to a large baking sheet or plate and spread it out to cool to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk the almond oil with the olive oil, champagne vinegar and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cooled quinoa with the cherries, feta cheese, almonds, cucumber, parsley and mint. Re-whisk the dressing and pour it over the salad. Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve.

May 30, 2013    Daylight  We are at the point where the sun doesn't really set. So the sun will rise at 3:37 a.m. and set at 12:02 the next day!  It is kind of dusky from midnight to 3:00 a.m.
                                Temp. H 82/ L 54°F