Quinoa is a native grain to the Andean communities. It has always taken a great part in the their culture, and even still today it's used in the rituals and ceremonies of the local communities. It was considered sacred by the Inca and forbidden by the Spaniards. Nowadays Bolivia and Peru are the biggest producers of quinoa, on a huge scale as it became a popular "superfood" all over the world.
Quinoa can be used in a salad, risotto, pudding, melted in a delicious bar of chocolate or just as popcorn.

Here is our recipe for a nice quinoa salad:)

Ingredients for 2:

- 200g of quinoa
- a hand full of mint
- a hand full of flat leaf coriander
- 20g of raisins
- 1 medium sized avocado
- 2 tbsp of ras el hanout (north african spice mix)
- 1 big union
- juice of 1 lime
- 7 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp of honey
- oil
- salt and pepper, to taste

Recipe for Ras el hanout:

- 2½ tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cardamom or the seeds of 10 pods
- a good pinch of saffron (optional)

Grind all of the ingredients in a mortar and pestle and you're done.

Recipe for the salad:

- Cut the union in half rings
- heat up some oil in a frying pan and add the ras el hanout, keep frying until fragrant
- add the union to the frying pan, lower the heat
- add a pinch of salt and the honey
- keep frying for 30 min until golden and don't forget to stir occasionally
- cook the quinoa according to what the package is saying (al dente)
- cut the tomatoes into quarters
- take off all the leaves from the mint and cut them very finely
- do the same for the coriander (you can also use the stalks)
- cut the avocado in cubes and sprinkle a little bit of the lime juice over it so it doesn't go brown
- add the cooked unions and quinoa to a bowl and add the rest of the cut ingredients including the raisins
- add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste and mix

Bon Appétit

P.S. Instead of raisins you can use dried cranberries, figs or even dates.