Sports Radio & Quinoa Salads

For the last seven years! we've watched the superbowl game at our Craig & Rosie's place. They always always throw a great party and they're good people and good friends. This year was quite a bash. More so than usual, since they're Giants fans. The party closed with cheers of glee and the delerious jubilatory running of laps around the house. I'm also happy to announce that Craig & Rosie have just started their own sports radio show, the Bleacher Preachers, which airs from 5-7 pm, Eastern time. Rosie has set up a blog for the Bleacher Preachers--a place to submit questions and to discuss all things related to sports. Pitchers and Catchers report tomorrow!! Go Mets!

On to food-talk. Everyone brought great dishes to the Superbowl party. We brought our homemade jalepeno poppers. I cleaned the peppers too well this time, they weren't as hot as I like 'em. Someone brought a very delicious, and unusual quinoa salad. Luckily, it's creator, Jennifer, was willing to share the recipe with me (see below). Chris & I whipped up a batch this week and *loved* it. We added too much lemon juice (organic lemon juice = super strong) & used canned lentils, but the kick of the garlic & tasty quinoa made this something we'll definitely repeat. This weekend, we'll be investigating the possibilities of cooking with tempeh, with Jennifer's guidance.

Jennifer Jacobs' Quinoa Salad

3 C cooked quinoa (1C dried will make about 3 cups cooked)

2 C cooked green or french lentils (1C dried)

1 C chopped carrots

1/4-1/2 C. cilantro (alternatively, you could use parsley)

1 C sunflower seeds

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C blend of olive oil and toasted sesame oil (i use mostly olive oil, then add a bit of sesame, but you could also just stick to olive oil)

1/4 C soy sauce

1/2 C lemon juice

Cook the quinoa and lentils separately, then cool to room temperature. Mix them together along with the carrots - garlic. Combine liquids, pour over quinoa mixture and toss well. Voila.