Quinoa salad with dried Persian lime
Instructions:
- I recently started using a new addictive substance - the small dried limes (or lemons) that appear widely in Iranian cooking. They add a fantastic sharpness and unique perfumed aroma to stews and marinades. For long-cooked wet dishes you just throw one in, lightly perforated, and it will impart its flavor to the whole dish. In this salad, though, I use it in powdered form. Unfortunately this is not simple to achieve because the limes are rock hard. If you have a spice grinder you should be fine; however, a food processor will struggle and give you some powder that you’ll then need to sieve. You can buy the limes in powder form but this is not as potent as what you make yourself. You can find dried limes online at kalustyans.com and from most Middle Eastern and North African shops.
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 12 oz each)
- 7 tbsp olive oil
- salt and black pepper
- 1 cup mixed basmati and wild rice
- 1 cup quinoa
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp shredded sage leaves
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped oregano
- 2 tbsp ground dried Persian lime
- 6 tbsp shredded mint
- 4 green onions (green parts only), thinly sliced, plus extra to finish
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 6 oz feta, crumbled
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into roughly 1-inch dice. Spread in a baking pan lined with parchment paper, drizzle over half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender.
- Meanwhile, cook the basmati and wild rice as instructed on the packet; drain. Place the quinoa in a pan with plenty of boiling water and simmer for 9 minutes; drain in a fine sieve. When dry (but still warm), transfer the rice and quinoa to a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the remaining oil into a small frying pan to heat up, then fry the garlic for about 30 seconds, or until it turns light golden. Add the sage and oregano and stir as you fry for about a minute; watch to be sure that the herbs or garlic don’t burn. Pour the contents of the pan over the rice and quinoa.
- Next, add the roasted sweet potato with its oil. Add the lime powder, mint, green onions, lemon juice, feta, and some salt and pepper. Toss everything together gently, being careful not to mush up the sweet potato and feta. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve warmish, or at room temperature, garnished with green onions.