Fair Trade Helps

Quin-o what?

August 2, 2011 at 4:18 pm lucumadesigns Leave a comment

Quinoa. A Peruvian staple and quite commonplace here at our office (since we do work with artisans in Peru).  But, I admit… i had never heard of the stuff until working here.  And so, on my Fair Trade Food quest, i was delighted to discover Alter Eco Fair Trade, who specializes in various types of organic and carbon-nuetral quinoa, chocolate, and jasmine rice.  They get their quinoa from Bolivia, but I assure you – it’s good.  You can even make this gluten free grain in the rice cooker in about 20 minutes.

And on Alter-Eco’s website, they have a community Fair Trade Cookbook, which i thought was a great idea!  You can sign up here.  

You can also find Alter Eco at Whole Foods and a variety of specialty stores.  They wanted to tempt you with this rainbow quinoa salad…. and they even gave us the recipe.

Rainbow Quinoa Salad

• 3 TBS olive oil (from Canaan Fair Trade!)
• 2-3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
• 2 TBS diced shallot
• 1 C Alter Eco Rainbow Quinoa
• 1.5 C veggie stock
• 1 C asparagus, 1/2″ dice
• 1 C radish, 1/4″ dice
• 1 C cucumber, 1/4″ dice
• 3 scallions, diced
• 1 C chopped roasted almonds or toasted pine nuts
• 1 large carrot, 1/4″ dice
• 1 bunch arugula, sliced into ribbons
• 1/2 sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4″ dice (in oil is fine)
• 1 C total of basil, mint or parsley
• 1/8 to 1/4 Each of lemon juice and olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute over medium low heat in 2 TBS of olive oil, the garlic and shallot. Let flavors meld slowly for 10-15 minutes. Add quinoa and toast the quinoa in the melded oil mixture for 10 minutes or so. Then turn up the heat to high and add stock. Bring liquid to a boil and lower heat immediately to low/ medium low, trying to retain a simmer. Cover and cook for 25 minutes lifting the lid every now an dthen to make sure there is enough liquid and that simmer is maintained. If not, adjust.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, saute the asparagus over medium heat in remaining oil for 5 minutes.

3. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all other ingredients, tossing all, except lemon and olive oil into a large mixing bowl.

4. When quinoa is cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit, tossing to allow air to permeate. Once it has cooled enough, toss together the quinoa with all the other ingredients until evenly distributed. Then, add lemon juice and olive oil with a few good sprinkles of sea salt and fresh black pepper. Voila. Taste spring.

Entry filed under: Fair Trade Helps People. Tags: .