Hello!

Hello and Happy 2012! Though I haven't updated this space in a while, the last six months have been overall wonderful, highlighted with new friends, the discovery of various creative outlets (notably graphic/web design), and memorable cooking experiences. I am excited to be back here, sharing recipes and little moments from my life as of late.

For Christmas, I was given the beautiful cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. It is chock full of mouth-watering recipes starring vegetables. Since many people are still focused on detox plans and cleanses and getting back on track following holiday indulgence, vegetables are a perfect jumping off point for my first January post. The first recipe I've tried from this book is a warm quinoa salad. While the recipe in the book calls for Persian lime (which was not readily available), I thought regular lime worked well also. This salad is a bright spot for any fierce winter day.

Warm Quinoa Salad

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 7 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 c. wild rice
• 1 c. quinoa
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp. shredded sage leaves
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
• The juice and zest of two limes
  
• 6 tbsp. shredded fresh mint
• 4 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced, plus extra for garnish
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 avocado
• 1 mango
• Slivered almonds, toasted
  

Preheat the oven to 400. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut roughly into 1/2-inch dice. Spread on a cookie sheet or roasting pan, drizzle with half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, cook the rice. Bring another small pot of water to boil and add the quinoa, cooking for about 10 minutes. Drain the quinoa into a fine sieve and leave to dry. Put the cooked, but still warm, rice and quinoa in a large mixing bowl.
Heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan, then fry the garlic for 30 seconds, or until it turns light golden. Add the sage and oregano, and fry, stirring, for about a minute — make sure nothing burns.
Add the contents of the pan to the rice and quinoa, then stir in the roasted sweet potato and its oil. Add the dried lime, mint, spring onion, lemon juice, lime juice and zest, avocado, mango,and salt and pepper, toss together gently. The sweet potato might want to get mushy, so take care. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve warm, or at room temperature, garnished with more scallion, and almonds