This quinoa salad with blueberries is a meal in itself in terms of taste, texture, and nutrition – nutty quinoa, sweet corn and red peppers, and the flavour bursts of the blueberries.
It may appear strange to be adding blueberries to a savoury quinoa salad. Blueberries are, however, a surprisingly flexible ingredient. How they work so perfectly here in this sous vide pork belly with a blueberry reduction is another great example. Not only do the blueberries add to the flavour and texture of this salad, but they are also one of the superfoods that we should be eating a lot more of.
Apart from the roasted red peppers, this quinoa salad with blueberries comes together very quickly. You could prepare the red peppers, corn, and quinoa the day before, then bring it all together just before serving.
Quick, assuming, of course, you are competent at poaching eggs. I must admit the perfect poached egg is still a challenge for me. I could blame the quality of the eggs that I can buy here in Saigon. But I feel that would be like a craftsperson blaming the tools.
I have tried most egg poaching methods – microwave, plastic wrap, and the classic method. It works great when the stars are aligned. Salvation came in the form of a sous vide device. Soft boiled eggs, onsen style, are not quite the same as poached eggs but just as sumptuous and decadent. An onsen egg is an integral part of this soba noodle salad.
Quinoa salad with blueberries, red pepper, corn, and a poached egg
Ingredients
- 2 red peppers
- 3 cups cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa. Great nutty flavour)
- 2 cups water
- 2 cobs corn
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 10 g butter
- 1 onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 large mild chilli
- 150 g fresh blueberries
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
- 1 egg per person
Instructions
- Clean and trim the 2 red peppers and roast at 190 degC for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Blanch 2 cobs of corn in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
- Cut corn kernels from cobs.
- Dice the roasted red peppers.
- Finely chop the onion, garlic, and chilli.
- In a large frypan or wok, sauté the onion in the olive oil until transparent, then add the garlic and chilli and sauté for several more minutes.
- Add the butter to the onion, then add the corn kernels and sauté for a few more minutes.
- Stir in the salt and pepper, then the quinoa and allow to heat through. Stir occasionally so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Reduce to a low heat.
- Add the chopped parsley, diced red peppers, and blueberries. Gently combine. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Poach the eggs. You can do this ahead of time and keep in iced water, reheating in hot water for 20 seconds before serving.
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