Green Kitchen Stories' Quinoa and Vegetable Chorizo Salad

This week, David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl from Green Kitchen Stories are serving as Guest Editors at Food52. They're sharing a week's worth of recipes and giving away 3 copies of their book, Vegetarian Everyday.

Today: Vegetarians, don't be scared by the word chorizo -- it's not just for meat eaters anymore.

A word of warning: this recipe uses words that might freak out some vegetarians. But fear not: our chorizo is purely plant-based! This is without doubt the most unexpected dish in this cookbook. Not only have we made sausages, but we also threw them in a quinoa salad. It’s definitely not our usual combination, but it is really good; the mustard dressing in the salad matches the "sausage" perfectly. Of course, you can also make the quinoa salad without the chorizo (or buy it premade). And, on the other hand, there are many ways you can eat and serve the vegetable chorizo: as a classic hot dog, in bangers and mash, or in a stew.

Quinoa and Vegetable Chorizo Salad

Serves 4

For the vegetable chorizo

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed
3/4 cup cashew nuts, toasted
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 small red chili, seeded and finely chopped
6 unsulphured dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked and chopped
1 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying

For quinoa salad and dressing

1 cup black quinoa
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 small red apples, diced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cups cooked lima beans
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
3 tablespoons hot English mustard
1 pinch sea salt
2 sprigs fresh oregano, to garnish

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by Johanna Frenkiel