Orange-Quinoa with Sweet Potato

• 2 yellow or orange sweet potatoes

To start, wash and scrub the sweet potato. Then, fill a pot of water and place the steamer insert with the sweet potatoes. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat and steam the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes or until tender but not mushy.

• 2 cups fresh squeeze orange juice
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 tsp sea salt

To rinse the quinoa, place the grain in a bowl and twice the amount of water. Swirl thoroughly and scoop out small stones and debris. Pour through a fine strainer. If the water is dirty, repeat the procedure. Drain well.

It is important to wash quinoa thoroughly to remove the bitter tasting saponin* coating.

To cook the quinoa, start by juicing the oranges. In a large heavy bottomed pot, place the quinoa, the orange juice and salt. Bring to a simmer, stirring the mixture to break up the lumps of quinoa, then cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tranluscent.

When it is ready, small steam holes should appear on the surface. Remove from the heat, place a tea towel under the lid to absorb any steam for about 7-10 minutes.

Please see note.

Removed the steamed sweet potatoes with a kitchen tong onto a chopping board. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice the sweet potatoes and add this into the pot with the quinoa, covered.

• 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 2 handfuls of arugula or mizuna
• 2 oranges
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt (to taste)

To prepare your other mise en place, roughly chop the walnuts, tear the cleaned and washed greens into bite-size pieces. Next, peel and segment the oranges and squeeze the juice onto a bowl. Then, gather the oil and the sea salt.

Related Tips & Techniques

• How to Segment Citrus Fruit

• lemon juice (to taste)

To finish the dish, gently fluff the quinoa with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Then, add the walnuts and arugula and toss gently. To finish, add the orange segments and its juice, the olive oil and sea salt. Toss again and season to taste with more salt or an extra squeeze of lemon juice if necessary. Serve alone, with soup or sliced loin of lamb.