Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Black Olives

By LEP04

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay (someone suggested throwing half the olives into the dressing)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups salted water or vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 cups quinoa
• 16 spears asparagus, trimmed
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup pitted nicoise olives
• 4 ounces aged goat cheese, shaved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

For the vinaigrette: Combine the vinegar, honey and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste and pulse a few times to incorporate.

For the quinoa salad: Bring the salted water or vegetable stock to a boil and add the thyme. Stir in the quinoa, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Preheat the grill. Brush the asparagus with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on all sides until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, fold in the asparagus, olives, goat cheese, basil and parsley. Add just enough vinaigrette to moisten the salad; don't make it too wet. Transfer to a platter and drizzle with more of the vinaigrette