Warm Quinoa Turmeric Cauliflower Salad with Cranberries, Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese 藜麥薑黃花椰菜、蔓越莓與榛果沙拉

 

During the past few months in Taiwan, one of the grains I really missed having was quinoa. It's not something you can find easily there, since it's not what we cultivate, nor is it in our diet. I love quinoa for its rich nutrients and nutty taste. Since it's a superfood, I can simply pair it with other vegetables and enjoy it as a light healthy meal. How convenient!

In this recipe, I chose to pair the quinoa with cauliflower. I know what you're going to say - it's not most people's favourite vegetable, and guess what? Nor is it mine! A lot of the poplular Fall quinoa salads are often made with butternut squash or kale, so I really wanted to make the salad with a not-so-popular vegetable. It's always more challenging for me to use some ingredients that I don't necessarily like so much, and transform them into something I like. 

Simple Pickled Butternut Squash 涼拌冬南瓜絲

In Taiwan, I grew up eating a lot of pickles as condiments or as appetizers, especially in the summer, since most pickles are refreshing and cooling. Unlike the western style of pickle, they're not always pickled in vinegar, nor are they always made over a long period of time. In fact, most of my mom's pickles were made within just thirty minutes to an hour. The pickles that you see most often in Taiwan are cucumbers, cabbages and radishes. My mom loves making different types of pickled cucumbers; sometimes she makes them with sea salt, sometimes with salted plums, both of which I love!

Chicken Over Rice Taiwanese style 雞肉飯

So here I am, after three months in Taiwan, I'm finally back! I know it's been too long to be away from the blogging world. I tried here and there to post something in between, but alas, no recipes. I can't tell you how much I missed writing and taking photos for my recipes, but I had no choice; I had to return home for some important family matters. It was a difficult time for all of us, and while there, I went through many different emotions: there was sorrow, relief, joy, tension, grief. It's hard to describe, it changed everyday. Thankfully, those emotions are slowly diminishing… Having gone through it, it's now time to go forward.