My grocery store finally has quinoa – hidden in the organic/gluten free/ health food section. I’ve had it before and enjoy having a different kind of grain to use. Martha has a recipe for Quinoa Salad with Cucumber (Martha Stewart Living, July) which I decided to try out. First I cooked the quinoa. Since I was in a hurry, once it was done, I spread it on a baking sheet and stuck it in the freezer to cool it quickly.

The recipe for this salad is very simple. Basically it is just quinoa with cucumber, herbs and a light vinegar/oil dressing. I got it together and it looked and tasted a bit boring. So I decided to add some cherry tomatoes for color and flavor. That helped things a bit. This was an ok side dish, but nothing to get excited about. If you’ve never had quinoa, it tastes like a very light barley and is also similar to tabbouleh. I doubt I will make this again, but it was something different to make and a nice change from a boring lettuce salad.