herbed quinoa salad with roasted shrimp
Prawn
Herbed Quinoa Salad with Roasted Shrimp
This entrée is nice for warm summer evenings and can be served warm, chilled, or at room temperature. I like to use quinoa because of all my friends who eat a gluten-free diet, but whole wheat couscous works as well. Have fun trying a variety of herbs; I grab a handful of whatever looks good in my herb garden. Feel free to double or triple this for a crowd.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup quinoa
- 3/4 pound extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 12 shrimp)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice, or juice of any organic lemons
- 2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon meyer lemon zest, or zest of any organic lemon
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme leaves
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Using a medium-sized saucepan, heat the stock until it boils. Add the quinoa, stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until stock has been absorbed. Remove pan from heat and allow quinoa to "rest", covered, for 15 minutes.
- Spread the shrimp on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, then add salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 3 minutes, then turn the shrimp and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and lemon zest. Set aside.
- Heat a small frying pan and toast the pine nuts, stirring, until they turn golden brown. Remove from heat.
- Fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork and turn into a salad bowl. Add the shrimp, vinaigrette, toasted nuts, and fresh herbs. Toss and allow salad to sit for 15 minutes before serving. If you wish to serve the salad chilled, refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
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