Quinoa, Corn, and Zucchini Medley

This week has been long. Incredibly long. Gut-wrenchingly, testicle-piercingly, nipple-pinchingly long.

What this has to do with this salad, I'm not sure. But I'm tired, and it felt somehow necessary to mention it.

I'll make it relevant though by stating that if you whip up this salad, your guts will *NOT* wrench, your testicles will *NOT* pierce, and your nipples will *NOT* pinch. How's that for a recommendation?

See, in THIS picture, it's NOT pinching your nipples:



And in this one, it's not piercing your testes:



INGREDIENTS:

Salad

• 1 c. quinoa


• 1 c. canned corn, drained*


• 1 med. zucchini. diced


• 4 green onions, thinly sliced


• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro


• 2 T. chopped fresh mint


• 1/4 c. pine nuts

Dressing

• 3 T. olive oil


• 2 T. orange juice


• 1 T. lemon juice


• 1/4 t. grated lemon zest


• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Cook your quinoa in whatever way you choose, with a 2:1 water-to-quinoa ratio (I used my rice cooker).

Make your dressing by whisking all your dressing-ingredients together.

Once your quinoa is cool, mix in all your salad ingredients and drizzle the dressing over the top.

(Make 4-6 servings)

PS. You ever notice how some of these cooking magazines take ridiculously long to explain a rather simple set of directions? This recipe was one such example. I just included my Occam's Razor, Cliff's Notes set above to spare you.

PPS. This is actually quite a good recipe--I usually get sick of my lunches by the end of the week, but I looked forward to this one. I particularly enjoyed how the mint kinda counter-balanced the green onions. It made my palate feel all well-rounded and shit.

(My modifications are asterisked. Original recipe from the Vegetarian Times, May/June 2007, p.40)