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Fourth of July is a great time to fire up the BBQ and grill up some burgers.  This year I tried some different slider recipes, especially now that grocery stores have slider buns in their baked goods section.  Here’s a few winners from the weekend:

Pulled Pork Sliders

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork belly
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 TBSP paprika
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
3 TSP salt
1 1/4 TSP black pepper
coleslaw
toasted slider buns

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients except the pork belly, slaw and the buns in a slow cooker and mix together. Add the 2 pieces of pork and cover the slow cooker. Set for 8 hours on low.

After 8 hours, using 2 forks, shred the pork and remove the pork with the remaining sauce into a large bowl. Toast the slider buns and add some of the pulled pork to each bun along with coleslaw.  Light a cigarette after then repeat.

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Inside Out Cheeseburger Sliders with Forever Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chuck
1 egg
breadcrumbs
1/4 TSP chili flakes
generous salt and pepper
cheddar cheese cut into cubes
toasted slider buns
thick cut bacon, slow cooked
1 Walla Walls sweet onion, sliced
2-3 TBSP butter

The title of this recipe has “forever caramelized onions” in it for a reason. For best results, remove skin from onions and slice thin. Cook with butter in a crock pot for 24-36 hours on low checking occasionally. You won’t believe how good the flavor comes out! Add a little more butter accordingly if necessary.

Combine ingredients in a medium to large bowl. Work in the egg and breadcrumbs so the ground meat will hold it’s shape. Shape into small golf ball sized servings, then work a cube of cheese in the middle making sure it’s fully covered on all sides by the meat mixture. Press your thumb in the top before grilling.

Serve by grilling to desired doneness with your choice of condiments, thick cut bacon and those beautiful golden onions.

Lamb Sliders

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground lamb
1/5 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 TBSP minced thyme
1 TBSP minced cilantro leaves
1 TSP minced mint leaves
1/4 TSP ground cumin
1/2 TSP coriander powder
1/2 TSP ground black pepper
salt to taste

12 slider buns or mini pita breads

Method

Place all the ingredients for the patties in a mixing bowl and combine well using your hands. Shape into about six small sized patties not too thin, but not too thick either. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes for the flavors to combine.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Remove the patties from the fridge and make about three holes each in the patties with your finger.

In a large oven proof non-stick skillet, heat the oil and add the onions. When the onions start to sizzle, arrange the lamb patties on top of the onion bed without touching each other.

Bake in the oven for 6 minutes on one side. Turn the patties over, and stir the onion bed to make sure they don’t burn. If it shows the signs of burning, remove the onions from the pan after the first 6 minutes, and finish caramelizing on stove top, when the patties finish cooking on the other side.

To serve, warm up the pita bread/buns in the oven, spread some spicy mayonnaise or a blended yogurt or chutney of your choice, arrange the meat patties and top it with the caramelized onions. You can add some lettuce, tomato etc to the burger as well.

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recipe originated from SFGate.com

Sometimes what seems like an incongruous ingredient can make the most spectacular dish. For a prime example you don’t have to look any further than the braised pork shoulder at Luella restaurant.
1896 Hyde St. (at Green), San Francisco; (415) 674-4343 or luellasf.com.

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The secrets:
Coca-Cola: People may not be able to pick out its distinctive flavor, but it brings out the best in this cut of pork.

Cooling the meat overnight: After cooking, the meat is left in the braising liquid, which intensifies the flavor and tenderness.

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Luella’s Coca-Cola Braised Pork Shoulder

Serves 12, with leftovers

Luella executive chef Ben de Vries uses a blend of chicken stock and Coca-Cola to braise the meat. The soda’s sweetness heightens the flavor of the meat, and is balanced by the pickled onions. The meat can be partially cooked ahead, and the onions and puree can be made up to a week ahead.

INGREDIENTS
Pork shoulder
8 lbs boneless pork shoulder
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Oil for searing
2 liters regular Coca-Cola (see Note)
1 gallon low-salt chicken stock or broth
White bean puree
3 cups dried cannellini beans (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Olive oil
Kosher salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Pickled red onions
1 large red onion (about 12 oz), sliced lengthwise about 1/4-inch thick
1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup julienned mint leaves

For the puree: Soak the beans in water overnight. Drain, then place the beans in medium saucepan; cover with water, add a splash of olive oil, reduce heat and simmer until very soft, adding more water as needed.

Drain the beans and puree in a food processor until smooth, adding enough olive oil (and some of the cooking liquid) until the beans have a mashed potato-like consistency; season with salt and white pepper to taste. Set aside. (The puree can be made up to a day ahead. Before serving, rewarm over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. If made ahead and refrigerated, you may need to adjust the consistency with a little more oil.)

For the pork: Season the pork with salt and pepper. Drizzle oil onto the bottom of a deep pan to barely cover, then set the pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the meat and sear on all sides until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside.

Pour the Coca-Cola into the pan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil, scraping up any stuck bits of meat from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced to about 3 cups. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil again, and cook until liquid reduces by about a quarter, about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Carefully place the meat into the liquid, cover and bake for about 2 hours, or until the meat falls apart easily. Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest, still covered and in its liquid, for at least 1 hour. If making ahead, cool and refrigerate overnight.

For the onions: Combine the onions, vinegar and sugar in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool. Adjust flavor with more vinegar or sugar as desired, then refrigerate until chilled. (The onions can be made up to a week ahead.)

To finish the meat: Remove the meat from the liquid (save the liquid in the pot), and remove and discard any visible fat. Preheat the oven to 400°. Bring the pot of liquid to a boil on the stove, then return the meat to the pot. Bake, uncovered, until the meat is warmed through, about 1 hour.

Remove the meat from the pan and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the sauce to a hard simmer, and cook until it reduces to a light syrup (slightly thinner than maple syrup).

To serve: Spoon warm white bean puree onto a plate; top with pork and drizzle with sauce. Drain the onions and combine with mint; use to garnish the pork. Serve immediately.

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Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
5 cups greens such as watercress
1/3 cut rice vinegar
1 TBSP finely chopped Walla Walla sweet onion
¼ cup finely chopped Fuji apple
4 TSP soy sauce
3 TBSP olive oil
1 ripe avocado
1 TSP sugar

In small bowl mix together vinegar, olive oil, onion, apple, sugar and soy sauce.
Trim greens keeping thin stems and leaves only.  Toss greens with enough dressing to lightly coat greens.  Quarter, pit and peel avocado then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices.  Toss with greens.  Serve on a chilled salad plate.

Wine Pairings: This is a pretty straight forward recipe that’s quick, healthy and tasty. There’s some nice tanginess from the soy and rice vinegar, which is offset by the creamy texture of a nice ripe avocado. You want a white wine, and probably one with some acidity that cuts through the avocado without tasting weird with the tanginess.  The apple helps bring it all together with a white like a French white like a Pouilly-Fuisse or Chablis.  Those are likely to be grown in limestone soils in climates that provide more acidity.  I recently had the Louis Jadot 2008 Pouilly-Fuisse and thought it was decent for the price:

Jadot is pretty widely available.  If you want to try something that’s domestic, check out what they’re doing in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills appellation.  Great stuff starting to come out of there at very reasonable prices.  One of my favorite places to visit is Walla Walla because the drive from Portland, Oregon to Walla Walla is incredible.  Woodward Canyon is one of the first wines I started collecting back in the day.  Their 2008 effort is awesome (like all their other wines).

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1-1/4 cup boneless and skinless chicken breasts
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup honeydew, cut into small bite sized pieces
1 bunch green onion, finely chopped
1 TSP dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise (low fat)
2-1/2 TSP brown sugar
1 TBSP Kirin
2 TBSP fresh tarragon, finely chopped
1/4 pecans, toasted and chopped
1 TBSP pepper

In a medium bowl, combine mayo, , mustard, rice vinegar, half the brown sugar, tarragon then season with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate.
Heat grill to medium heat, spray with PAM for grills.  In a small bowl mix together pepper with remaining brown sugar and 1 TBSP olive oil.  Cover chicken breasts with mixture.  Cook chicken on grill turning once.  Chicken is done when juices run clear.
Chop chicken into bite sized pieces.  Mix chicken, melon and green onion to dressing mixture.  Serve on salad plates.

Since spring is sprunging around the country, there’s a natural desire to savor the fresh veggies and eat something healthy.  Chicken and salads are some of the healthiest things you can eat, but let’s face it, they’re BOOORRRRING!

So I like to add a little something called flavor to the salad so you actually enjoy eating something that’s good for you.  The mayo is the one ingredient that can derail this whole, “I’m eating healthy so I think I’ll have seconds” train.  Take a look at cutting the mayo down in half or replacing it altogether with a soy based mayo.

Because there’s some creaminess to the salad, a wine pairing that has some acidity to cut through the creaminess is needed.  You can go a few ways with a wine+food pairing.  I’d go for a Chardonnay/Viognier blend or a Pinot Gris.  Why?  ‘Cause that’s how I roll.  But more to the point, a Chardonnay would work fine, but the dijon is going to give a little Jackie Chan kick to it, and there’s honeydew.  Viognier has a sweeter, apricot thing going on, and when blended with Chardonnay will offer a rich mouth feel experience that compliments this salad, rather than overpower it.  Pinot Gris is a grape I’ve been geeking out about lately, so I like to play with it in pairings like this.  Let me know what you think would be a good pairing.

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Strawberry and Almond Spinach Salad

INGREDIENTS
1 LB baby spinach leaves, washed
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup slivered almonds, drizzled with honey and slightly toasted
1 cup sliced strawberries
2-3 TBSP chopped fresh dill

INGREDIENTS FOR DRESSING:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar or Truvia
1 TSP garlic, minced
1/4 TSP sea salt
1/4 TSP fresh ground pepper
1/4 TSP dry mustard powder
1/4 TSP onion powder
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, sugar or Truvia, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, dry mustard and onion powder.

Wash dill and pat dry or use a spinner. Trim off feathery ends, discarding thick stems. finely chop dill and set aside. Wash and slice strawberries.

Wash spinach and spin dry or pat dry with paper towels. Place spinach in large mixing bowl. Thinly slice green onions and add to spinach in bowl. Add slivered toasted almonds and chopped dill and mix together.

Whisk dressing a few time to be sure it’s well-mixed, then add desired amount of dressing to salad and toss.  To keep dressing from making leaves heavy, pour dressing around sides of bowl mixing spinach against it rather than pouring dressing directly on to spinach.

Arrange salad on individual serving plates. Toss sliced strawberries with 1-2 TBSP of dressing, then arrange strawberries over salad on each plate and serve.

Wine Pairings:
The strawberries deliver a bit of tanginess that would benefit from a touch of salt and pepper. This recipe is meant to be easy to make and easy to transport to parties. It’s colorful, it’s light and it’s healthy. Better yet, this recipe is created to pair with wines you’d expect to find at holiday parties like Chardonnay or Pinot Gris. An unoaked Chardonnay will be even better because the fruit and acidity will be more complimentary with the strawberries. Here’s a few wines I’d recommend:

+ Bethel Heights Pinot Gris – Oregon
+ Spann Vineyards Chardonnay/Viognier – Sonoma
+ St. Supéry Oak Free Chardonnay – Napa

Roast Lamb with Shallots, Mint and Mustard

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS For lamb:
1 crown of lamb made from two 8-rib racks (about 4 1/2 pounds total)
3 TBSP butter, room temperature
1 TBSP plus 1/2 TSP Dijon mustard
2 TSP dried rosemary

1 cup dry white wine
large shallots, chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 TBSP fresh mint, chopped

For Spring Vegetables with Mint:
1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, halved
1 baby carrot bunch, stems trimmed to 1 inch, peeled
1 10 OZ. basket pearl onions, peeled
1 LB fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut crosswise into thirds

3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP fresh mint, chopped

Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary in bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Place lamb in roasting pan. Rub all over with butter mixture. Roast 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. and continue roasting until thermometer inserted into lamb registers 140°F. for medium-rare, about 40 minutes. Transfer lamb to platter; let stand 15 minutes.

Pour off fat from roasting pan and set pan aside. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over low heat. Add shallots and 1/2 teaspoon rosemary; sauté until shallots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add wine to roasting pan and bring to boil over high heat, scraping up any browned bits. Add wine to skillet. Add stock; boil until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon mustard and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon vegetables in center of and around roast. Serve, cutting lamb into chops and spooning sauce over.

To make spring vegetables:
Place potatoes in vegetable steamer and steam 10 minutes. Add carrots and onions and steam until vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes longer. Add asparagus and steam until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes more.

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add mint and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and stir until vegetables are coated with butter.

Wine Pairings:
The right selection of lamb will make all the difference. Colorado lamb is some of the best in the country and should be readily available at most decent markets. The resulting holiday dish will be tender and flavorful which bodes well for a lighter style red wine. Cabernet or high alcohol reds will most likely overpower the flavors. Here’s a few I recommend:

+ Chateau Musar Rouge 1995 – Lebanon
+ Twisted Oak River of Skulls – Calaveras County, CA

+ Lucienne Pinot Noir Doctor’s Vineyard – Central Coast, CA

+ Cougar Crest Cabernet Franc – Walla Walla, WA

Herb Crusted Filet of Beef

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
1 3-lb. Beef Tenderloin
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Madeira
2/3 cup Vermouth
1/4 Cognac
1 bay leaf
1 TBSP butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP marjoram
1 TBSP fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup cold water
sea salt and pepper

HERB CRUST:
3 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped (thyme, marjoram, rosemary, parsley)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

At least 2 hours before cooking, combine all ingredients together (not Herb Crust or Madeira) in a large bowl or pan. Place meat in mixture and cover entire cut of beef with herb mix. Refrigerate for later cooking.

To make herb crust, place bread in food processor with herbs and garlic. Process until well blended and fine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grill Method: Preheat grill to medium high. Take beef out of marinade and set marinade aside for later. Cook each side of meat 4 minutes or so giving it a nice sear on all sides. After searing, move beef to upper rack or cooler side of grill and cook 20 minutes.

Oven Method: Preheat oven to 425°F. Oven sear beef (brown sides, about 5-7 minutes each side) then reduce heat to 350°F. Cook for 30-35 minutes making sure to baste throughout cooking.

After beef is done cooking, remove filet from grill or oven and place on a platter, then cover with foil tent. Place platter in oven with oven off and door open, or with the oven on WARM for 20 minutes. Take the marinade that was set aside and pour it into a small saucepan with 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil and reduce liquid by half, add madeira, then reduce by half. Serve sauce on the side late with beef. If you cooked the beef in the oven, you can use the roasting pan instead of a small saucepan so you get all the yummy bits.

To finish, rub herb crust mixture all over beef, brush a light amount of olive oil if needed. Place herb-covered beef back on the grill and cook each side about 2-3 minutes per side taking care to not burn the crust. If using the oven, broil each side for 2-3 minutes taking care to avoid burning.

Carve beef and serve with sauce on side.

Wine Pairings:
Here’s a regal beef dish that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. If you actually like the people you have over at your house you can bring out the good wines to impress them. Better yet, pull out a magnum. If it’s your family and they’re driving you up one wall and down another you can opt for the lower tier swill. If you dine at Chez Bakas, chances are it’s all good stuff. Because this beef dish requires a little extra preparation, why not serve a wine that’s got a little extra Bruce Lee round house kick to the taste buds? I’d serve these wines with this dish:

+ Quinta do Crasto Old Vines Reserva – Portugal
+ Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon – Washington
+ St. Supéry Dollarhide Ranch Cabernet – Napa
+ Vilafonté Series C – South Africa

Garlic Roasted Chicken

garlic roasted chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 free ranch whole chicken
2 whole heads of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half horizontally
2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup chopped fresh herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, Marjoram
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375°
Rinse chicken inside and out with cold water. Drain and pat dry. Mix together 1 TBSP fresh ground pepper, 1TBSP sea salt and herbs in a small bowl.
In a 9×14 roasting pan, cover chicken with olive oil making sure to coat entire bird. Rub salt, pepper and herb mixture all over chicken including inside the cavity. Wrap chicken legs together with string. Put halved garlic heads into pan around chicken. Put roasting pan in oven on center rack and cook for 20 minutes. Baste chicken with wine and roast for another 25 minutes. Baste chicken again using pan juices. Turn chicken over and repeat process. After 90 minutes chicken skin should be golden brown. Chicken is done when clear juices run from thigh after poking with a knife.

Place chicken on platter with tail in the air so moisture and juices flow downhill to breast meat. Cover with foil and let chicken stand 10 minutes before serving with roasted garlic.

Wine Pairings:
Here’s a chicken dish that’ll go with that buttery butterball Chardonnay you’ve been wanting to open. It’s chicken. Keep it simple and enjoy! A few wines I’d serve:

+ Au Bon Climat Nuits Blanches Chardonnay – Santa Barbara
+ Sokol Blosser Evolution – Oregon
+ Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent, Les Hautes, Auxey-Duresses 2006 – Burgundy

Snowball Cookies

snowball cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
2 TBSP sugar
1 TSP vanilla
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flour
1/4 TSP salt
Powdered sugar

Cream butter
Add all other ingredients, except the powdered sugar.
Mix well.
Shape into 1″ balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes.
These should be light in color, not brown.
Cool and roll in powdered sugar.

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Serves 4 people

INGREDIENTS
4 6-OZ salmon fillets with skin
¼ cup miso paste
¼ cup mirin
3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
2 TBSP minced green onions
2 TBSP rice vinegar
2 TSP toasted sesame oil
2 TBSP minced fresh ginger
Salt and Pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together miso, mirin, soy sauce, vinegar, green onions, ginger and sesame oil. Place salmon skin side down in glass baking dish, pour mixture over salmon. Flip salmon over with skin facing up and marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.
Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper then grill over high heat skin side down for 4-5 minutes. Flip salmon over and grill 4-5 minutes. For salmon grilling tips go here.

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE RUB
1-½ LB flank steak
Salt, about 1 TBSP
Pepper, about 1 TBSP
Olive Oil, about ½ cup

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE
2/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup Spanish vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 cups fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 cups fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 TSP ground coriander
1-½ TSP kosher salt
½ TSP pepper
¼ TSP cayenne
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

At least an hour before grilling, generously coat steak with salt, pepper and olive oil and let marinate.

Put all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend ‘em together. Grill steak over medium heat until desired doneness, about 5 minutes each side. Remove steak from grill, thinly slice steak and fan pieces onto plate. Serve sauce on the side or spooned over the steak.

This recipe is inspired by an Argentinian recipe from my father-in-law. The flank steak by itself is going to be juicy and very tasty, especially if you let it marinate for at least an hour with the salt and pepper. But when you add the chimichurri sauce, it takes that tasty flank steak to a whole ‘nother level. I love the kick from the garlic and cilantro in this sauce. If you look at the ingredients, it’s a pretty healthy option if you are a sauce-on-your-steak kind of person like I am. Many sauces have a high amount of fat from cream or sodium from beef stock. This sauce, however, does not. It’s olive oil and some veggies. And it’s so darn good.

To pair with this recipe I wouldn’t go with a big high alcohol red wine like Cabernet, Zinfandel or Shiraz. I’d take it down a notch on the intensity scale and opt for something like a Merlot, Meritage blend or a lower alcohol Cabernet that’s not going to overpower the steak. When you have a cream sauce, yes, bring out the big boys. This is a bit more refined. You’ll find the garlic in the sauce plays on your palate with a little Jackie Chan kick, but there’s no sweetness in this recipe. So offset that by serving a wine that makes up for that lack of sweetness. Something “jammy” will have the sweetness from fruit you’re looking for. Since this is a recipe from Argentina, why not an Argentina wine?
Bodegas Weinert was Wine&Spirits winery of the year with good reason. The Weinert family has been making exceptional wines for nearly thirty years, including their Estrella Malbec, which was aged in oak for over twenty years. For this recipe I’d recommend the Weinert Carrascal Red Blend. It sells for about $12 here and is an exceptional blend of 55% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot.

The flavor intensity on the recipe is probably a 7 or 8. The flavor intensity on the wine is around a 7. It’s very stylish without being over the top (or over powering the food). They use a similar kind of oak as the Montes Alpha Merlot from Chile or Cougar Crest wines from Walla Walla. You get some sweet vanilla from a certain kind of oak depending on how much each winery uses. Enjoy, and hit me back with any good stories. Cheers!

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Image via Wikipedia

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INGREDIENTS
64 oz tomato juice such as Clamato
¾ cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced into small cubes
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
½ cup Spanish vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup thyme, finely chopped
1 pound cooked shrimp, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 TBSP cumin
Juice from one lemon

Pour tomato juice into a large non-metal pot. Add all ingredients into tomato juice then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. This will bring all the flavors together. Serve chilled on a warm day. Cumin is what makes this recipe work. Feel free to add a little bit more after it’s chilled.

Here’s a Basil-Honeydew Gazpacho recipe you might blow your ‘O’ ring over.

INGREDIENTS

10 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
2 TSP honey
2 TSP toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 TSP sesame oil
5 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
Mixed salad greens

Arrange cucumber slices and green onions in a shallow glass dish.  In a covered container, shake remaining ingredients together (except salad greens).  Pour mixture over cucumber and green onions.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Drain dressing from cucumber and onions.  Serve cucumbers and onions on salad greens with dressing drizzled on top.

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Quinoa is a wonderful grain to cook with because of it’s exceptional nutritional value. Quinoa offers a complete source of protein, fiber, iron and amino acids along with a soft, round texture. For more visit the Quinoa page on Wikipedia. Enjoy this healthy, yet tasty recipe as a main dish or side dish.

cooked quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 cup mango, chopped
2 cups packed baby spinach
4 TBSP green onion, chopped
1 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 TBSP mango chutney, chopped
1/3 TSP mustard
1-1/2 TSP curry powder
Salt and Pepper

Boil quinoa in medium saucepan until tender, about 12 minutes.  Drain and let cool in a medium sized bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, white wine vinegar, mango chutney, curry powder and mustard together.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the mango, green onions, cucumber and 1/4 cup of olive oil mixture to quinoa, mix together.
On a salad plate, or in a bowl, spread out spinach, then spoon quinoa on top.  Drizzle more olive oil mix on top and garnish with chopped green onions.