I suppose you could say that it really doesn’t take much effort to put a salad together, and there’s probably no need to blog about it… but I just feel like there are days when you CANNOT think of something different… You want to make that salad… you want to use what you have.. but not just throw it all together and dress it with olive oil and lemon… there’s nothing wrong with that at all.. but you just NEED to do something a little more imaginative.. even if it’s just for YOU!
So this was one of those days… And I am so thankful on those days, to have easy, comprehensive cookbooks to refer to.. like Jamie’s 15 minute meals one… I’ll be honest… a lot of the recipes I’ve tried have taken a bit longer than 15 minutes!!!! This salad…. around 20 minutes… but maybe I’m a slow-poke 😉 It all started with these little jewels..
I picked up a mixed box of these baby tomatoes from the market a few days ago.. each variety tastes different… juicy… sweet, sour, fruity, you name it… and so the story of the salad begins….
Mixed Baby Tomato & Quinoa Salad with steamed Halibut
- 1 mug (tea mug) of quinoa, about 300 g
- 1/2 lemon
- 600 grams ripe tomatoes in different colours
- 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TB balsamic vinegar ( the syrupy one)
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- fresh thyme
- 1 -2 fillets on halibut ( about 300 grams total), cut into thick slices
- put 1 mug of quinoa and 2 mugs boilong water in a pot with a pinch of salt and 1/2 lemon, stir and bring to the boil then allow to simmer gently with the lid on for about 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile steam the fish… you can do this in a steamer or get a shallow pan, filled with water half way and place a flat strainer on top that fits the size of your pan. brush the fish slices with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place on the strainer and cover with a lid for about 6-8 minutes then remove.
- SLice your tomatoes in half and scatter them around your serving dish.
- Once the quinoa is ready, drain and squeeze over the lemon juice. Spoon the quinoa over the tomatoes and around them.
- Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic, add salt and pepper and the thyme leaves. Lay the fish on top and drizzle a touch more oil and balsamic and serve
I’ve very slightly changed the recipe… not adding the fresh red chilli because I simply forgot…. Jamie uses Mackerel in his recipe and I didn’t have any at home… and I didn’t make a dressing separately to go on the side as I didn’t see the need really….it still tastes awesome!
I am SO glad I didn’t settle for a “normal” salad and tried this one… the lemony quinoa is just beautiful and sings in your mouth and the juiciness of the tomatoes..well, it all just works and pops and you feel happy..
Oh, I’m loving that song by Pharell by the way… Happy!
Make this! It’s refreshing, it goes perfectly in your lunchbox… it just works! 🙂 Thanks again Jamie!
Leave a Reply