K R A T E K R I S & K A T E: DAY 21.

QUINOA & PURPLE POTATO SALAD.

This looked like a great Summer salad. With this crazy hot weather (it was just raining last week!) I thought this might be a good salad to make. The recipe is one I saw while watching Food Network. It is from Giada De Laurentis. She does two shows, "Every Day Italian" and "Giada at Home." I watch A LOT of food network so I always stumble across different recipes/ This looked like a good recipe that I could easily make vegan by substituting chicken broth for vegetable broth and it ended up being pretty tasty.

This is the recipe from FoodNetwork.com (verbatim):

Ingredients

* 12 ounces purple Peruvian potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Quinoa:

* 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 2 cups quinoa
* 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
* 2 cups (8 ounces) frozen peas, thawed

Dressing:

* 1/2 cup pitted medium black olives
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup agave nectar
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 2 to 3 large limes)
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool.

For the quinoa: In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring the chicken broth, quinoa, and garlic to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic and discard. Using a fork, fluff the quinoa and place in a large serving bowl. Add the peas and the cooked potatoes.

For the dressing: In a food processor, combine the olives, oregano, oil, agave nectar, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Blend until chunky.

Pour the dressing over the quinoa and toss well until coated.

Cook's Note: The potatoes can also be steamed in a steamer basket for 15 minutes until tender.

I followed the same directions but instead of boiling my potatoes I cooked them in the microwave. This is a fast and easy way to cook "baked" potatoes or cook potatoes without all the extra work of boiling a pot of water, draning, etc. It also saves time.

I also cut the recipe in half since I'm the only one eating vegan and half a recipe was more than enough for me and for my family to taste. (it makes A LOT).

I cooked the potatoes in the microwave and when they were fork tender I cut them into cubes and let them cool.

Meanwhile (as per the instructions) I boiled the broth, in this case I used vegetable instead of chicken stock to make it vegan), garlic and quinoa. I waited until it boiled and then covered and simmered so that the quinoa could cook.

Once the quinoa was done simmering and all the liquid was gone I fluffed it with a fork.

Before I made the dressing, I measured and defrosted one cup of frozen peas.

For the dressing I just followed the instructions and blended it all together in my magic bullet because I don't have a food processor. It worked fine.