Garlic and More Garlic Cold Quinoa Salad

As the name of this recipe suggests, it is very garlicky -- so if you don't like garlic, I suggest you don't bother with this recipe. I happen to looooove garlic, so it works for me quite well! Cold quinoa salads are great because you can throw in whatever vegetables you have on hand (I've made this with broccoli and red onion before). You could also use different types of cheese. The original recipe called for goat cheese, but I always have sharp cheddar, so I just used that and it was good.

Rant on grocery store tomatoes: I've decided that it's pretty much not worth buying tomatoes at the grocery store unless you buy cherry or grape. Unless maybe you have a really fancy grocery store with especially good tomatoes, in which case, buy a big tomato and chop it up for this recipe. If you grow your own or have access to a farmer's market, even better! Okay, end rant on grocery store tomatoes.

This makes about 4 servings--more, if you're making it as a small side dish. I like to make a big batch and have it for lunch several days during the week.

(Sidenote on the dressing: The original recipe called for 1/2 a cup balsamic vinegar, but that is just a lot of vinegar, so I use less. You may need to tweak some of the amounts on the dressing depending on how big your salad ends up being (if you add vegetables) and how strong you want the flavors. I suggest pouring on part of the dressing, tasting it, and then pouring on more if you want more flavor. Balsamic vinegar plus a ton of garlic gives it quite a kick.)

Salad

½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

2 cups vegetable broth (to cook quinoa--can use 2 cups water instead)

2/3 cup spinach leaves, chopped

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

3/4 cup cubed sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Dressing

2 heads of roasted garlic

2 T olive oil (for roasting garlic)

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1T Dijon mustard

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the papery part of the garlic and cut top off the head.  Break into separate cloves.  Toss with olive oil and wrap in foil, and bake for one hour.  Cool and squeeze out garlic pulp. Mash with a fork. 
2. Bring vegetable broth to a boil.  Add quinoa and crushed red pepper and boil for 15 minutes.  Drain in a fine colander and put in refrigerator to cool.
3. While quinoa is cooking, combine spinach, tomato, and cheeses in a large bowl.  Toss gently.
4. Make dressing by combining vinegar, mustard, garlic and roasted garlic in a bowl. Mix well with a fork.  Add in olive oil in a fine stream.
5. When quinoa is cool, add to the spinach and cheese mixture.  Add dressing and toss.