I made this recently for some friends. The salad was excellently crisp-tasting after the sweet and savory quinoa, and really cleansed the palate.

You will need the following. I apologize for the English volume units; perhaps somebody could help me with some weight-based or metric units? I cook by feel, and I'm writing this from memory, so I can't get very exact with some of this; you can probably vary these quantities without causing too much damage.


The salad

Put the beans in a pan with equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook this over medium heat until the beans soak up everything in the pan and dry. They'll get much firmer to the touch, too. It took me about half an hour before they were ready.

While they're cooking, rip up the lettuce, chop the broccoli and mushroom coarsely, and the cilantro, mint, and basil finely. Toss these all together with the beans, once they come off the stove.


The quinoa

Toast the quinoa. To do this, cook it in a pan with some olive oil (enough to cover the bottom and then a little). As you stir, the oil will mix in to the grains; when they dry out, they're toasted. If they start to burn, you waited too long. You can also beat and mix in an egg at this point; it will make this noticeably richer-tasting. If you're daring, you can also add a little cumin seed while it's toasting.

While the quinoa is toasting, warm the stock in another pan, with a couple of shakes of nutmeg and tarragon, and some salt and pepper. I was working by taste, since I was making it up as I went, so you should probably do the same (the taste part, I mean). When the quinoa is properly toasted, mix it in to the stock. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a medium-low heat, cover it, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, get the sausages cooked. I grilled them, but it's not always convenient to do that. You could pan-fry them, or bake them, or whatever suits your fancy. Just make sure they're done at about the same time as the quinoa.

When everything is ready, slice the sausages into half-inch lengths, and mix them into the quinoa. Then fold in the cheese. Serve it all warm, and follow up with the salad!

I'd recommend a white wine, but beyond that, I don't really know from wines. If somebody finds something tasty, let me know.

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