Another summer lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake?

Re quinoa:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

ahHAH!  Those subversive beets ... they get into everything, don't they?

Ann ... too funny!!

Sugar: that salad looks both nutritious and delicious. For me, I would omit the olives -- but then it would lose its Greek.

I sometimes make a quinoa salad with apples, nuts and arugula. There are a lot of variations of the recipe on the 'net -- here's one version.

You can modify the recipe in many ways. If you want it to keep a couple of days, I'd add the apples and arugula at the last minute.

When I first started using quinoa, I was using the white one. Then I discovered the red one, which I think has a better flavor and looks prettier. I think that they are nutritionally the same. 

Sugar, I love Rose Reisman's cookbooks -- you've inspired me to take a new look and start using them!

Don't know if this was mentioned , but for those new to Quinoa ( keeen-wah) be sure to RINSE it well with water before cooking.  There is a "bitter" coating that has to be rinsed off.

hrf, looking forward to your recipe -- I loved your salad, too!

sorry to keep everyone waiting but I had to go to work today .... 7 workdays left

I used a combination of white and red quinoa (and rinsed it first) and cooked it in a low sodium vegetable broth instead of water (2 parts broth, 1 part quinoa)

Then I minced cucumber, red pepper, purple pepper, yellow pepper and vidalia onion and threw it all in. I let it sit in the fridge overnight to let the flavours blend. I put on a small amount of dressing made with: 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup balsamic, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbl minced onion....and mix it all together and then add dressing to the quinoa - but not all of it ...just to taste. I used only about 4 tbls.

Hope you enjoy it. Linda has a great book of quinoa recipes ... Linda, do  you have a favourite? 

Hrf: that salad sounds great. I particularly like the sound of the salad dressing. Do you put in the sesame seeds whole or do you grind them first?

Better, thanks. I sent you a PM.

Me at the winery!

The icewine was yummy! Ann shipped my bottles to me. Thanks Ann! Can't wait to try it out on DH.

hrf - thanks for the quinoa recipe. I adapted it to match the things in my fridge and my lesser skill level. The dressing was a store bought Asian one (because it was in the fridge and sounded vaguely like your recipe). It was delicious!

How many more days til retirement?! It's getting close.

hrf...I think retiring at the end of a summer is sheer brilliance on your part!!!

I haven't logged on in awhile as I was going through rads.  I'm in Toronto.  So sorry I missed this get together.  I hope there is another one soon!  I hope you all had fun.