Feb '08 Food and Recipes

Ashtangis Cook
The Rules: Food is love. No politics. No bickering.
By Elise Espat

Blogger Cranky House Frau has put together an interesting blog site. With the dreams of publishing an Ashtangi Cook Book, she has created a space for ashtangis to share their favorite recipes be they vegan, vegetarian, or neither. “I want it to be the food we love to cook and eat,” She says on ashtangiscook (http://www.ashtangiscook.blogspot.com/). So far, there are eight contributors listed, and she invites anyone with a passion for cooking and eating to share. Try this amazing salad recipe posted on January 28th by "Rew".

Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds

Ingredients:
couple handfuls sliced/slivered almonds (or pepitas)
1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
handful basil leaves, julienned
approx 1 cup dried cherries (or cranberries* or raisins), roughly chopped
1 peeled, seeded and diced cucumber
3 or 4 Tbs plain dairy or soy yogurt
3 or 4 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
splash mirin
small spoonful honey (can replace with agave nectar if vegan)
dash salt

Directions:

In dry skillet, brown almonds -- 5 or so minutes. In separate pot bring 3 cups salted water to boil. Stir in quinoa and dried cherries or whatever dried fruit you are using. Once it comes back to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes or so. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for another 15 minutes or so. Once quinoa is cooled, toss it and the cherries together with the almonds, basil, and cuke in a large serving bowl. Whisk yogurt and all ingredients listed below it in small bowl. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Let sit about an hour for flavors to develop. Serve room temp or chilled.

*Note: When using cranberries, try adding in a few slices of fresh goat cheese. mmm.

Elise lives, practices, and cooks in New York and hopes to find the skills to take decent pictures of food so that she might be able to one day contribute to ashtangiscook...