Earlier in the week I made an asparagus and ramp pesto and the first thing that I used it in was a pasta dish. While I was enjoying the pesto pasta my mind wandered as I was thinking about what to do with the remaining pesto and the next thing I knew I was thinking about quinoa salads. I had also recently had fresh baby artichoke hearts for the first time and I wanted to use them again and I had thought that they might go well in a quinoa salad. Inspiration struck! How about mixing the asparagus and ramp pesto into the artichoke quinoa salad? The pesto packs a ton of flavour and it would just make the salad! With the basics down I decided to bulk the salad up a bit with some chickpeas and since there was already some asparagus there in the pesto I figured adding some more would fit right in. I could not resist finishing the salad off with some salty feta. The asparagus and baby artichoke quinoa salad with asparagus and ramp pesto and feta turned out amazingly well! It was nice and light and fluffy and moist and tender and just full of tasty fresh spring flavours! With just a minute or two in the microwave, the leftovers were just as good the next day. I imagine that any kind of pesto would work well in a whole grain salad like this.
Asparagus and Baby Artichoke Quinoa Salad
ingredients
- 8 baby artichokes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
- 1/2 cup asparagus and ramp pesto or asparagus pesto or pesto
- 1/2 pound asparagus (trimmed, cut into 1 inch pieces and blanched)
- 1 cup chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 1/4 cup feta (crumbled)
- 1 splash lemon juice
directions
- Peel the leaves from the artichokes until you get to the paler tender inner leaves. Cut the top third off and discard and cut the artichoke in half.
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the artichoke hearts and saute until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the quinoa and broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Mix everything and serve
Asparagus and Ramp Pesto Pasta
Baby Artichoke Heart Quinoa Risotto with Shrimp and Meyer Lemon Pesto
Meyer Lemon Pesto and Feta Pasta with Shrimp
Pistachio Asparagus Pesto Pasta
Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Quinoa Salad
Thai Style Black Quinoa Salad
Asparagus, Baby Artichoke, Pesto and Goat Cheese Quiche with Quinoa Crust
Asparagus and Pea Spinach Pesto Quinoa Salad
Asparagus and Artichoke Breakfast Casserole
I would never have thought to put these items together but it does sound like it would be good. Might have to give it a try.
I also wanted to let you know that I have nominated you for "Awesomest Food Blog" over at "I Am Mommy" http://iammommy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/04/awesomest-food-blog.html.
So fabulously delicious! Absolutely crammed with so many of my favorite things, but grounded with wonderful quinoa. Love it. 🙂
Looking for new things to do with quinoa, so I just printed this out … I'm going to try it this weekend!
Hello from Basque Country, I just write to tell you that I adore your cooking, you are great….I try to follow you everyday I can, though you have got too many recipes to cook. Thanks for sharing your treasure with us
I cannot wait to try this! I will post a link to give you credit when I do! =)
I always love your grain salads Kevin! You are so good at combining ingredients.
What a wonderful salad for spring. A very well balanced salad! The color is beautiful from the asparagus & artichoke.
What a wonderful salad for spring. A very well balanced salad! The color is beautiful from the asparagus & artichoke.
This is my first time to your space..really enjoyed browsing through your dishes. I love quinoa and this combo really impressed me. Well this would my next dish in quinoa.. Just peep in my space too when you find time.
Pavithra
http://www.dishesfrommykitchen.com
Now this is my cup of tea! I love the feta, lemon, chick pea, olive oil combo and I adore quinoa and artichokes, so this is the meal for me!
It's amazing how all the different flavors in this dish each stand out on their own….totally delicious. I used the meyer lemon pesto instead and it was still terrific!
Hi Kevin,
Another wonderful recipe, I made this Sunday and have one more lunch in my fridge. It is so tasty. The only change was that I added some frozen baby peas cause they like the other ingredients all make me think of spring. Thank you again.
I've made a quinoa dish similar to this – without pesto and with kale – but I definitely want to try this one! Last night I made quinoa with asparagus and zucchini – will blog about it soon – so good!
What a wonderful combination for another Quinoa recipe idea with the asparagus and artichokes. Lovely! Thank for the addition to our recipe box.