salad for the indecisive

I was in one of those moods where I just didn’t know what I felt like for dinner. In search of inspiration I went to Farro Fresh (as an aside, it’s perfectly acceptable to search for ‘inspiration’ at gourmet food shops when you’re an income earner, however as a student I must learn to find inspiration at pak’n’save).

Perhaps I had that ‘lost soul’ look about me, as on two separate occasions I was approached by the very eager staff asking if I needed assistance. I politely declined, and continued my laps of the shop, not quite knowing what I was looking for. And then, it found me. Well, I guess I found it, in the form of a tear off recipe for Quinoa, Sweet Corn and Edamame Bean Salad with Honey, Lime and Basil Dressing. Serendipitously, in an attempt to fake some purpose, I had already popped some sweet corn and spring onions into my basket. So, with two ingredients down, it was like it was meant to be! I continued my rounds of the shop, this time with a genuine sense of purpose, as I gathered together the rest of the ingredients.

For a salad that basically involves assembling a lot of different ingredients, it seemed to create a lot of dishes – food processer, pot for the quinoa, pot for the edamame, pan for the corn, dish for the quinoa to cool etc. And although it was all very tasty, I'm just not quite sure if it was worth all the admin. This was the first time I've had edamame in this kind of recipe - normally I eat them as a snack with lots of salt. I was surprised as to how similar to podded broad beans they taste. The dressing was delicious – I only added ½ a clove of garlic when the recipe suggested 2 cloves, but actually I would leave it out altogether, as the salad has enough sharp flavours with the garlic that's already in it plus the spring onions and radishes. I found it to be quite a carb heavy salad, if I made it again, I think I’d leave out the chickpeas (I’m not a big fan of chickpeas at the best of times). Although I didn't quite make the quantity suggested in the recipe, there was still loads of salad, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the fruits of my admin for a few days to come.

Quinoa, Sweet Corn and Edamame Bean Salad with Honey, Lime and Basil Dressing (Tear off recipe from Farro Fresh - but as featured in Dish Magazine)

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups cold water or chicken stock
3 cobs sweetcorn
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 x 400 gram bag of frozen edamame beans, blanched and podded (I managed to find pre podded ones at tai ping!)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 spring onions, thinly slices
3 radishes, thinly slices

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
Finely grated zest and juice 1 large line
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I’d leave these out in future)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
Handful of basil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Dressing: Put all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Season

Cook the quinoa in water and stock. Spread out on a tray, season and leave to cool. Cut the kernels off the sweetcorn and discard the cobs. Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the corn, garlic and salt over a high heat until lightly coloured. Tip into a large bowl. Add the quinoa, edamame beans, chickpeas, spring onions and radishes. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Garnish with extra basil to serve.