Beet and Quinoa Salad

I'm on a quinoa mood these days. First I gave you colourful quinoa salad with crayfish and avocado, then a vegan quinoa salad with coriander/cilantro and lime. Both have been served with a success on several occasions at our house, and I have it on good authority that my brother-in-law served the crayfish version to a grateful audience on his recent birthday party as well. Having been so successful with the first two quinoa salads, it was only natural that I decided to serve some kind of quinoa salad at the Easter Sunday brunch. It's was universally enjoyed by our over dozen guests and thus provided another great opportunity to introduce this rather unknown "grain" here in Estonia.

The recipe is very slightly adapted from a book by a New York based holistic health and nutrition councelor Marika Blossfeldt (you can read more about her practice here), who also runs an international center for the performing, visual and healing arts here in Estonia).

As it happens, the salad is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free and very pretty on top of that :)

Beetroot and Quinoa Salad
(Kinoasalat peediga)
Serves 6 to 8, or more as part of a buffet

200 g quinoa (1 cup/250 ml)
2 cups water
0.25 tsp salt
200 g cooked beetroot, grated
1 small fennel, thinly sliced and cubed
1 small bunch of scallions/spring onions, chopped
large handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 to 2 lemons, juiced
4 Tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the quinoa under cold running water, using a fine mesh sieve (this is an important step, as otherwise the quinoa can be bitter). Drain.
Place the quinoa and stock (or water and Marigold bouillon powder) in a saucepan. Season with salt, then bring to the boil and simmer on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until quinoa is soft and the water has evaporated.
Stir in the oil and the lime juice. Place the quinoa into a large serving bowl. Stir in the grated beets, chopped basil, spring onions and fennel. Season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and serve.