A Peruvian Quinoa Salad

This week we are celebrating the regions of Peru at China Chilcano

Have you ever been to Peru? Tell me in the comments if you have, I’d love to hear what you thought. I absolutely love the country, I think the cities, the countryside, the beaches, and mountains…everything is so beautiful, it’s really an incredible place. And the food! Peru has become a leader in the world of gastrodiplomacy, using food as a way to bring tourists to their country, and as a way of spreading their culture to the world.

I’ve told you about it before, but years ago my team did an R&D trip to Peru to study the country’s cuisine before opening up our restaurant, China Chilcano. What we saw was the amazing regionalism of the country, and how the ingredients and dishes can look entirely different as you travel around.

This week, we’re celebrating that regionalism during our annual Passport to Peru festival at China Chilcano in DC. We have special dishes and drinks from the Andes, the coast, and the Amazon. One of the new dishes I’m most excited about is an incredible Amazonian dish called Juane. The traditional dish is made with chicken wrapped in rice and steamed in a banana leaf, but of course our head chef Daniel Lugo wanted to do his own version…so we are doing a duck leg confited with five-spice, wrapped in rice and steamed in the leaf with Peruvian olives and hardboiled eggs, then served with sweet plantains. I’m telling you, if you’re in DC, you need to make a plan to try Juane.

But that’s not exactly a recipe I’d ask you to make at home (unless you want to! Maybe I can ask Chef Lugo for the recipe…) Instead today I wanted to share with you a recipe that’s also on the Passport to Peru menu. It’s one that we worked on for my cookbook Vegetables Unleashed, but it never actually made it into the book…so here you are, the first ones to actually see it…!

It’s a quinoa salad from the Andes that has a beautiful background aroma from star anise, herbal flavors from mint and cilantro, and a bite from a tangy lime dressing. Quinoa, the Quechua word for the grain, originated in the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia thousands of years ago, and it remains a healthy and delicious part of the Andean diet. And now we can find it on grocery store shelves all around the world! So friends, I tell you, make this quinoa salad today or over the weekend…I know you will enjoy it. And for everything else on the menu, come join us at the restaurant!

Ensalada de Quinoa