I know in all my social media (Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram) it mentions ~Food~ as one of the things I do on this blog, and although it is incontestable that food is a huge part of my life, the truth is that we live in a house with a lot of light but with a tiny dark kitchen… As you can imagine, the photos are not very blog-worthy, so that’s why I have been postponing my culinary ideas for brighter (borrowed) kitchens.

This time though I convinced a good friend of mine to lend me his gorgeous house to prepare this treat AND to take the pics for the post. Aren’t I a lucky bean? ♥

With the 1st of May coming up, I thought we would celebrate Labour Day with some special menu with Middle–Eastern flavours. 

The credits have to go to Mr. Vet who cooked this on a weekend after finding inspiration in Sabrina Ghayour’s cookbook Persiana (my anniversary gift to him, I must say, so part of the credit goes back to moi!). He added his own personal touch, as every time he plays chef, so here’s the result for your pleasure and enjoyment! You can thank me/him later 😉

This recipe is super easy to make and very tasty. It can be served as a tepid salad or straight from the pan; as a side dish or as a full meal with some extra greens. I picked it because it has a lot of yummy ingredients and attractive colours (of course!). A real treat for both your eyes and your taste buds. So let’s get cracking, shall we?

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quinoa (150gr – serves 3-4 people) – we used two colour quinoa for extra fun!
• 2 zucchini sliced in 1-cm thick slices
• 1 big red onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 generous handfuls of peeled pistachios
• 1 handful of dried cranberries
• Lemon zest, salt & pepper
• Lemon juice and chopped mint to dress and decorate

Method

1. To cook the quinoa, put two portions of water for one of quinoa in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and cover with a lid for 10 more minutes.

2. On a frying pan, toast the pistachios without any oil. Be careful not to burn them! We just want to slightly roast the nuts in order to extract all their flavour. Set aside.

3. On that same frying pan, add a drizzle of oil and cook the zucchini slices on both sides over medium heat. You want them to roast a bit on the outside but not to lose all their crunchiness (is that a word?). Set aside.

4. The last ingredients to be cooked are the garlic and the onion. You can use the same pan once more to fry the finely chopped ingredients until tender. I suggest adding the onion first, cooking for 4-5 minutes and then adding the garlic so that it doesn’t burn.

5. And on to the fun & rainbow-coloured part!! On a big pan or bowl, mix the cooled-down quinoa with the onion and the garlic, the zucchini, the cranberries, the chopped mint and some lemon zest. Toss everything until well integrated and add an extra drizzle of virgin olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.

6. Serve with lemon wedges for extra tanginess and some mint leaves for a green touch on the plate. Enjoy!

*Tips:

• You can replace the pistachios with pine nuts or other nuts if preferred and it will be equally delicious.
• If you are not a big fan of quinoa, prepare with any other grain, such as rice, couscous or even pasta.

Will you try your hand a this quinoa & pistachio dish during the long weekend? Can you recommend any other summery recipes, glamistas?

Let me know in the comments –I love reading your thoughts each week!

Happy 1st of May, my fellow labourers, hope you have a great spring break full of love and yummilicious things!

Peace & Love

Saida

Jean-Marc Eskdale, merci! ♥