Super Fresh Quinoa Starter

I just love quinoa. It has a really light texture, which makes it so versatile! In this starter, it combines so beautifully with the freshness of the other ingredients.

RECIPE

Type: Vegetarian

Approx. Preparation time: 10 mins

Approx. Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Half a cup of quinoa
• Half a cucumber peeled into long strips
• 1 perfectly ripe tomato slices thinly
• 50g Feta
• 1 handful of fresh mint leaves
• 1 squeeze of lemon
• Balsamic vinegar glaze, to drizzle

Preparation Steps

1. Rinse the quinoa in cold water.
2. Peel the cucumber’s skin off. Discard the skin. Then keep peeling the cucumber lengthwise to make long cucumber strips. Set aside.
3. Very finely slices the tomatoes. Set aside.
4. Keep a couple of mint leaves to the side for decoration. Finely chop the rest of the mint leaves and set aside.
5. Keep some feta aside for decoration.

Cooking Steps

1. Boil some water in a small pot. When the water is boiling add some salt and add the quinoa. Leave to boil for 20 minutes.
2. When the quinoa is cooked, sieve it and pop it back into the pan with a dash of olive oil.
3. Mix the feta into the quinoa and mix well to combine the two. Add the finely chopped mint and a squeeze of lemon juice into the quinoa and mix well.
4. Put the cucumber strips into a small bowl and add a dash of olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar and a little pinch of salt, pepper and paprika.
5. To assemble:
   • Place the quinoa at the centre of the plate (if you don’t own plating mould rings, NOW is the time to get your own – they will change the way your plates look!)
   • Place some tomato slices on top of the quinoa
   • Top with the cucumber strips
   • Place a mint leaf on top of the cucumber, for decoration
   • Crumble some feta over the whole plate
   • Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze around the quinoa
   • Voilà!