Quinoa Chopped Vegetable Salad

By some blessing of the gods, it is 85 degrees in Boston today. EIGHTY-FIVE. Verging on too hot, yes, but only because we've had no time to prepare. Predictably, David is furious and I am in heaven.

Some of my favorite things to eat when it's hot out (besides ice cream, of course) are cold mixed salads that you can throw together one afternoon and leave in the fridge for several days, forking at will. I was recently bewitched by Janet Fletcher's article, "Ancient Grain for Modern Times," in which she extols the virtue of bulgur--a manifestation of the wheat kernel that is cracked, cooked, then dried, and sold in (usually health food) grocery stores. I decided to throw together a version of the kisir salad she talks about in the article, using what I had on hand.

What I did not have was bulgur. Oops. What I did have was quinoa, a fast-cooking grain from South America that you should be eating more of. It's about the size of cous cous and it's a complete protein, so it makes for a well-rounded vegetarian meal. Buy some.

Lastly, let me say nothing tastes like summer the way mint tastes like summer. It's fresh, it's sharp, don't skip it in this recipe.

Quinoa Chopped Vegetable Salad

(serves 2, unless you're me, then only 1)

1/2 cup quinoa

2 inches of cucumber, sliced then halved

4 radishes, ends cut off, then sliced and halved

1 medium tomato diced or a handful of cherry tomatoes halved***

1/2 inch slice of red onion, chopped

1 cup beans

2 Tbsp chopped mint

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp grated hard cheese

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

S&P

1. Bring a small pot of water with quinoa to boil. Stir grain around and cook until you see little curly parts separating from the grain (you'll know what I mean when you do it), about 5 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh sieve and run cold water over.
2. In a bowl, mix together rinsed quinoa and cucumber through cheese. In another small bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil with lots of salt and pepper. Pour over veggie bowl and toss.
3. Eat all at once or store in the fridge.

Some notes...

You can be creative with the grain, but I like how the small quinoa clings to the other salad bits; also think bulgur (obviously) or cous cous (preferably whole wheat). I had black beans cooked, so I used those, but kidneys, white beans, and many others will do fine. For cheese, I used manchego, which is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese, nice and salty. Parm, asiago, romano, feta, or even farmer's cheese would be good. Just pick something salty. As usual, go with what you've got in the vegetable drawer, just make sure you pick things that are fresh and crunchy, because the beans provide all the mush you need.

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***If you're not up for a food-inspired life lecture, stop reading now. Barry Eastbrook published an article in last month's Gourmet on the virtual slavery in which tomato harvesters in Florida live. These people are deceived into traveling to the farms, then kept in involuntary servitude indefinitely. There are chains. There is physical abuse. Yes, most of these workers are illegal. Does this mean they deserve whatever conditions they can get? I really, really hope your mental answer to that is "no." And let me save you the suspense -- conditions in Mexico are not better. You guessed it, they're worse.

The good news is that a coalition has formed for/by the workers and even the governor of Florida is warming up to them. If you want to figure out how to make sure you don't buy slavery tomatoes or support large-scale efforts to change the purchasing practices of food industry giants, go to the website for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Listen, I'm not trying to go all Jane Fonda on you, but we vote with our dollars every time we go to the grocery store. While we have access to an incredible diversity of food and food products (I am certainly not complaining there), our food system is full of real problems. There are more reasons than just health to know where your food comes from.

Our Daily Bread

Ok, religious punning aside, this is our go-to everyday bread. We recently became an all-homemade, all-the-time bread family once we realized how delicious the house smells for, like, the whole day after you make a loaf. And I'm not kidding when I say there is NOTHING in the world like that first slice. This recipe is a modification of the multigrain loaf from Cook's Illustrated, which uses some all purpose flour (ours is all whole wheat). It relies on a multigrain hot cereal mix for its nutritional base. I happen to like Bob's Red Mill (either 7- or 10-grain) mix, but maybe you can find something you like just as much.

The trick to eluding brick-quality whole wheat bread is vital wheat gluten. It's a powder that I buy in bulk at my local health food store, but you may find it on the flour/baking aisle. Do NOT confuse it with seitan, a gummy mass of jaw-cramping meat substitute. If you can't find it locally, order some online and keep it in your freezer.

If you keep all these ingredients on hand, it is no effort at all to throw it together. But it does involve a good bit of waiting, so make it a weekend project, then eat the bread all week long

Multigrain Bread (adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

Makes one 9x 5 inch loaf pan

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp multi grain hot cereal mix

10 oz boiling water

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 Tbsp honey

1 1/4 tsp instant or bread machine yeast (they're the same thing)

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 1/2 tsp table salt

(optional)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds, pepitas, or other nuts of your choice

(I know there are seven grains in the cereal, but I can't resist adding extra stuff sometimes. For example, I threw in flax seeds and millet this last time for a nice crunch. Add caraway or fennel seeds for little zaps of flavor. Better yet, toast them first!)

1. Place the cereal mix in a large bowl and pour in boiling water. Stir and let sit (stirring occasionally) until the water is absorbed and mixture has cooled to lukewarm temp, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir in yeast, butter, and honey until well mixed. Stir wheat gluten into flour and add to grain mixture 1/2 cup at a time until dough comes together. Cover with plastic and let sit 20 minutes.

3. Add salt and knead until incorporated. With either your bread hook on the mixer or your own brute strength and inhuman patience, knead dough for about 8 minutes. Add seeds and knead until evenly distributed. Let the dough hang out for about 10 minutes.

4. Now, time to form a loaf. On a lightly floured surface (sprinkled with oats if you like that look on the outside of your bread), press the dough into a 10 x 6 inch rectangle. Rolling from the short end, make a cylinder of the bread, pinch bottom seam, and place in a greased 9 x 5 -in loaf pan. Cover in plastic and let rise about 40 minutes. (Two tricks to rising your dough: either microwave a cup of water for about a minute, then remove and immediately place your dough in and shut the door, leaving a warm, moist place for the yeast to work its magic. OR, turn your oven to warm while you are forming the loaf, then turn it off and place loaf in the now-warm oven. Just remember to take it out when you preheat to bake).

5. When ready, heat oven to 375º and bake for 35 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 200º. If you don't have a thermometer, just thump the outside. It should be stiff. Cool it on a wire rack (NOT IN THE PAN, or you'll have soggy bread). Be sure to cut and eat a slice while it's still warm.