Green Beyond Leaves: Salad with Quinoa, Fava Beans and Peas
Packed with fava beans, fresh herbs and peas, this salad will bring spring to the table in an instant. Mint, dill and scallions complement the ever-so-slightly-sweet flavor of the brown-rice vinegar seasoning, creating a bright and refreshing marinade for the salad. Quinoa provides the ideal texture and background, with plenty of protein and nutrients, making this salad a complete meal. Other spring vegetables can easily be added to the mix: Try blanched asparagus, radishes or sugar snap peas.
Spring Quinoa Salad
Serves 2 to 4
This salad is delicious as is or topped with a crumble of goat cheese or feta.
Ingredients:
1 pound fava beans, shelled (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup shelled peas, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons brown-rice vinegar
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, chopped
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground back pepper
Pea shoots to garnish
Directions:
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add fava beans and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Scoop them out with a small strainer or slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Return water to a boil and add peas: If using fresh peas, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender; if using frozen, simmer for one minute and then drain. Set aside to cool.
Place cooked quinoa in a medium bowl and add olive oil and vinegar and stir to combine. Slip the skins off the fava beans by pinching one end open; add them to the quinoa. Add peas, scallions, dill, mint and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine and season to taste. Serve topped with pea shoots.
Amy Chaplin is a chef and recipe developer in New York City. She blogs at amychaplin.com.
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