I love the combination of grains or vegetables with sesame oil. As with any oil, look for one that is unrefined in dark bottles to preserve the quality of the fatty acids.
Ideally you want to make this salad at least 2 hours ahead of when you are going to serve it so that it can cool down and the flavours can meld together. It could also be served as a hot dish just by replacing the cucumbers with a vegetable that does well with heat, such as spinach, shittake mushrooms or zucchini (in which case I would lightly saute the vegetables before adding them to the quinoa).
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish
1 c. quinoa
1 2/3c water
1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2c. diced cucumber
1/2c. diced orange pepper
2 tbs. minced chives
1 tb. minced cilantro
1 tb. unrefined sesame oil
juice of 1/2? fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 tsp. tamari (naturally aged Japanese soy sauce)
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Prepare the quinoa as in the recipe on this blog, Simmered Quinoa.
Add all the ingredients to the grain and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
