It is always exciting to find a new ingredient and I quite enjoyed this salad, made with kaniwa, quinoa's kissing cousin. Kaniwa is chewier and has more flavor than quinoa though, to be fair, both could be used as the base of this salad.
The nice thing about grain salads in general is that they are infinitely adaptable to whatever is in season, or whatever you have lingering in hydrator and pantry. This salad was great warm for dinner as a side for Turmeric Salmon, but equally nice on its own -- room temperature -- for lunch.
Makes enough for a side dish for a dinner for four with lunch for one the next day.
1 cup raw kaniwa
1 cup diced/shredded vegetables of your choice (I used diced watermelon radish, cucumber and celeriac and grated carrots)
1 cup chopped herbs of your choice (I used a mixture of coriander and mint)
1 cup sour cherries (can be found in the freezer section of most Middle Eastern grocers)
1 large shallot, peeled and finely diced
2 Tbsp sushi ginger, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp ground turmeric
Juice from one lemon
Salt to taste
Cook the kaniwa in 2 cups of lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Check periodically to make sure that there is still water left. If it evaporates before the 15-20 minutes are up, add more -- 1/4 cup at a time. The kaniwa will be ready when the little tails it shares with quinoa are visible and it is tender with a little bit of bite left under the tooth. If there is any water left, drain the grain before assembling your salad.
While the kaniwa is cooking, chop your herbs and vegetables and prepare your dressing by whisking together the olive oil, white wine vinegar, turmeric and salt. As soon as the kaniwa is cooked add the dressing and toss well to combine.
Then stir in the vegetables, herbs, shallot and sushi ginger. Toss well, add the lemon juice, and toss again. Adjust for salt and perhaps more vinegar according to your taste.
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