Broccoli & Quinoa Salad with Crispy Bacon

Last week I was captivated by a pile of terrifically green and fresh broccoli at the market and went a bit crazy in my purchase! So now having had a surplus of broccoli at home, I was struggling to find ways to use it up. The weather has been unseasonably warm in Queensland (will Winter ever arrive?) and I didn’t want to make soup, so between roasting it, making vegetable slice and my raw broccoli salad, we were getting a bit bored.

Solution? Add bacon!!

Haha! Actually I added a few more things than bacon, namely quinoa and tahini but you could easily forego the tahini if you don’t have any on hand. I don’t know why I don’t use quinoa more often as it has a lovely nutty flavour when cooked. I have probably used it more as a flour where it has a very distinctive flavour in baking – perhaps that has put me off. Rinsing it well will get rid of the tannins that contribute to this. Some people like to soak their quinoa to get rid of the tannins, but I find that rinsing it in warm salted water does the trick.

I think this salad is hearty enough on its own but serving it as an accompaniment to some grilled chicken or lamb will keep your family really satisfied.

 

100g quinoa

1 teas salt

450g broccoli (cut into medium-sized florets)

1 clove garlic

40g cashews

50g mayonnaise

juice of 1 lemon

1 teas tahini (optional)

1 tab nutritional yeast

handful of fresh herbs (parsley, dill, coriander)

½ teas salt

20g olive oil

3 rashers streaky bacon, julienned

First you will need to cook the quinoa. Add the quinoa and 1 teas salt to the TM with 1 litre of warm water and rinse on SP 3 for 1 minute. This will get rid of the bitter tannins in the quinoa. Drain and add 900g fresh water to the bowl with the rinsed quinoa. Place the broccoli florets in the varoma tray and place on the TM. Cook the quinoa whilst steaming the broccoli on top for 15 minutes, on VAROMA temperature,  SP 4.

Strain the quinoa and set aside.

Set half the broccoli aside in a wide bowl.

In the TM bowl add the oil and bacon and sauté on VAROMA temp for 4 – 5 minutes, SP SLOW REVERSE until crispy. Set aside leaving the oil in the bowl.

Without cleaning the bowl, add the garlic, remaining half of the broccoli, cashews, herbs, mayo, lemon juice, ½ teas salt, nutritional yeast & tahini and blend on SP 6 until smooth. It should be thick enough as a dressing, but not firm. Add a little extra oil if it is too firm. Season with pepper & more salt if required.

In the wide bowl, break up the remaining broccoli into smaller bite sized florets and add the cooked quinoa. Stir through the dressing and sprinkle the crispy bacon over the top to serve.