Simple samphire with quinoa

This week I have a tri-part 'side dishes' recipe collection that all formed part of this gorgeously colourful dinnertime set up. The photos were all worthy in their own right and as each of the recipes was so simple, I want to do them the honour of individual posts. Therefore the skewers and flatbreads will follow on later this week!

This is a beautifully simple side dish. I had never tried or even come across Samphire until a few weeks ago and so was curious to give it a try.

A brief spot of 'googling' came up with a few easy options, many of the recipes I found involved fish and sea food on the basis that samphire is a coastal plant and so the dishes reflected that, but this lovely vegan quinoa version caught me eye, so off I went to try it out! 

I wanted to fully appreciate the delicate nature and flavour of the samphire itself and so added the bare minimum of ingredients to compliment it. The result was simple and delicious, I would have also been happy with this as a main dish, maybe with a few roasted veggies. But in this instance I was having a creative kitchen eposide so served the dish as part of a collection.  The sauteed onion with garlic works really well with the light salty flavour of the samphire and the bed of quinoa makes the perfect base to mix it into.

For me, one of the best things about samphire is the speed in which it cooks. Due to its form and large surface area it simply need a few minutes to steam or saute and you're ready to go. If like me, you have pre-cooked quinoa portions at the ready this meal will literally take 5 minutes to come together...you know how happy that makes me!

In the top photo i'd also added a few chunks of my vegan feta cheese.

Recipe: Simple Samphire

(serves 2 as a side)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

100g samphire (1 packet which was approx 1 packed cup)

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium red onion sliced

3 tbs lemon juice

2 garlic cloves- crushed

2 tbs fresh chives- chopped

Method:

Prepare the quinoa (if uncooked) and set aside.

Meanwhile fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil for approx. 5 minutes until softening.

Sauté the samphire in a separate pan for 2-3 minutes and then add along with the quinoa and lemon juice to the frying pan with the onion. Toss to fully coat for a minute adding the fresh chives in the final seconds. 

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.