22 May A warm, quinoa salad for a murky, cold day

To write or not to write?

I was tempted not to write today’s blog and quinoa salad recipe. Maybe, I should gloss over the emotionally murky waters and wait for a lighter mood to write? Then, I remembered that in order to create something authentic, we must see the dark truths of this world as well as the beauty. The shadow of the human psyche is beyond words, yet we must endeavour to express it through our own lens, with as much grace as possible, in order to bring it to light.

Murky Water analysis

My own life is not falling apart, but a close friend has a serious problem that I want to support her in, whilst giving her the space to make some important choices. There is so much pressure to be positive, we all want to fix our lives and share the success story. Yet, we will all wade through these waters at one time or another. We will all be in a situation in our lives where no way seems like the “right” way. Coupled with what I am seeing happening in the world, specifically Gaza, I’m feeling a murkiness that I have very little control over. I can get away from it for a moment or two, do some gardening, make dinner or listen to a podcast, yet when I awake up in the morning, the murkiness is right there, sitting on the edge of my bed, shaking her head sadly. Every time I have a quiet moment, in the kitchen or even the garden, she’s right there beside me, saying “Oh, what’s the point? When humans are so determined to hurt others”. The murkiness reminds me of the Mummins’ Groke – sad and cold – though really, she is a version of me.

A leftovers recipe for quinoa salad with chickpeas and halloumi

Yet, we continue. I think that probably is the point. Yesterday was cold and grey, my friend was here, unexpectedly, so I made her this warm, quinoa salad for lunch. I had some leftovers in the fridge: quinoa, spring onions, a tin of chickpeas in the cupboard. It turned out surprisingly good. You can use any other cooked whole grains that you have for this salad – cooked brown rice or couscous would work well. I used a three quinoa mix that had been cooked in homemade chicken stock.

A warm, quinoa salad with chickpeas and halloumi

Recipe by Zuza ZakDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

20

minutes

A comforting quinoa salad using leftovers.

Ingredients

• 100g quinoa, cooked

• 100g chickpeas, cooked

• 100g halloumi cheese, cooked and cooled

• Lettuce leaves

• 2-3 spring onions, finely sliced

• Olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• Salt to taste

• Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon mild mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon honey

• Salt and white pepper

Directions

• Place the quinoa and the drained chickpeas on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and paprika. Roast for 15min at 180 degrees.
• Prepare the vinaigrette by placing all the ingredients in a jam jar, closing the lid and shaking to combine.
• Cut the halloumi into small cubes, prep the spring onions and arrange the lettuce leaves on each plate.
• Drizzle the lettuce leaves with some of the vinaigrette.
• Once the quinoa is ready, mix it with the spring onions and halloumi, then arrange it over the salad leaves and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette.