Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

I used to be a fool and pronounced quinoa as kwi-no-ah because I didn't know that ki-nwa was the correct way. Anyway, I walked around like an idiot saying KWI-NO-AH for the longest time and no one corrected me until someone laughed at me. I'm glad those days belong to the past now.

Hopefully, I helped someone step into the light on the pronunciation of this seed with this post. Let's move on to the actual food part.


Oh, wait, there's one more "lesson." I used to not know that I'm supposed to wash/rinse the quinoa like crazy before cooking them. Waaaah? Right? I just poured water into the pot with the dry quinoa and cooked it. Result? The shit tasted so bitter (due to saponin) and I wondered why people love it.

I learned my lesson. I now soak (20 minutes) and wash (3 times) my quinoa prior to cooking it every time!


While the quinoa was soaking, I diced up about 3" of a large cucumber (or 1 small cucumber if you'd like). I also diced up 1/4 of a small red onion but forgot to take a photo.


This mixture was concocted using 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (or just plain white vinegar), 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar. I suggest you stir in the sugar a bit a time to stop and taste to your desire.


I let the cucumber and onion soaked in the vinegar/water mixture for at least 20 minutes. I like to do this mostly to the onions to remove that sharp taste in raw onions.


While the cucumber and onion were soaking, I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa (soaked and washed) cooked with 1 cup of chicken broth in the rice cooker.

At the same time, I boiled about 20 shrimps, drained, and let them cool. The onion and cucumber should be done soaking by now, they should also be drained.


When all were cooked, drained, and cooled, they joined forces in a large bowl! Party! Cracked in some black peppers and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.


Before I forget, juice of 1/4 of a lime to add a bit of excitement. Then toss like there's no tomorrow!


You thought I was done? Nooooooo! I got an egg, beat it a bit with some salt.


Fried up a thin thin slab of egg. Yummmm.


Shrimp quinoa salad on top of a fried egg = delectable!


Note: I was told that red quinoa has a different texture than the normal yellow quinoa. I couldn't tell the difference so I think I'll stay with the normal yellow ones for now because they're way cheaper than the red ones. Can someone tell me the differences in tastes and textures of those two?