Hypoallergenic Quinoa Salad and Hypoallergenic Buckwheat Salad

   

Hypoallergenic Quinoa Salad

      In principle, quinoa should be the perfect grain for a nonallergenic salad. In practice, quinoa salad is often a soggy mess. When you add such wet ingredients as oil and lemon juice to perfectly cooked quinoa it becomes too damp, of course.

     This recipe, inspired by the technique for making Turkish bulgur salad, produces quinoa salad that is dry and fluffy.  The difference is that the quinoa is only fully cooked after it interacts with the hot oil and soaks up the lemon juice.

     2 cups quinoa, rinsed and thoroughly drained

     1 Tb. cumin (See Spices in the Glossary)

     1/2 c. oil (See Oil in the Glossary)

     1 onion, chopped very fine

     1/2 Tb. salt (See Salt in the Glossary)

     3 cloves garlic, crushed

     ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice  (See Juice in the Glossary)

     chopped leaves from one bunch of parsley  (See Produce in 

          the Glossary)

     1-2 oz. finely chopped fresh dill (See Produce in the Glossary)

     two bunches of green onions, trimmed and sliced

     Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the cumin and quinoa, bring the water back to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cover, and cook until there is no stray moisture in the pot (10-15 minutes).  Put aside and allow to set for a few minutes. Meanwhile, fry the onion with the salt in the oil on high heat until it is translucent and very soft, stirring constantly.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, being careful not to brown the onions or the garlic. Immediately stir the onion mixture into the quinoa. Allow to steep for 10 minutes.  Stir in the lemon juice and allow to steep for another 5 minutes.  Chill thoroughly.  Stir in the remaining vegetables and serve.

Variation: Leave out the cumin, use lime juice instead of lemon juice and replace the parsley, dill and green onions with:

      2/3 c. carrot, diced fairly small

      2/3 c. jicama, diced fairly small

      1 bunch of cilantro, chopped fine


Hypoallergenic Buckwheat Salad

To make buckwheat salad, substitute buckwheat for quinoa in the recipe given above. You do not need to rinse the buckwheat because, unlike quinoa, buckwheat does not have bitter compounds on its surface.