This salad is a big hit no matter where I serve it. The flavor of the Orange Blossom Water is such a surprise when you bite into the apricots.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups quinoa (see cooking directions, below)
• 1 cup hot filtered water
• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 3 cups hot filtered water
• 5 apricots, cut into wedges
• Orange Blossom Water (see Image, on the right)
• 2 cups chopped cucumbers, roll cut (see Techniques page)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Juice of one orange
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted

The directions to cook the quinoa:

First, cook the quinoa, here’s the process I used……

1. I rinsed the quinoa in a fine-mesh colander.
2. I toasted the quinoa in a large saute pan until all the moisture was gone and the seeds were turning just a bit brown, 15-20 minutes.
3. Then I poured one cup of hot water in the pan, swished it around some and drained it. Toasted and rinsing removes the bitterness that comes from the outer most layer of the quinoa seed.
4. Put the pan back on the burner and add the 3 cups hot water (see Tip, below) and the 2 tbs sesame oil.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low and let cook for 10-12 minutes.
6. Turn the burner off and let the quinoa sit for another 10 minutes or so.
7. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and allow to cool, set aside, toss often.

The directions for the apricots:

1) Cut the apricots into wedges and add enough Orange Blossom Water to liberally coat the wedges.

2) Set aside, chill, toss often.

The directions for the cucumbers:

1. Cut the cucs into triangles and add enough balsamic vinegar to liberally coat the pieces.
2. Set aside, chill, toss often.

Assembling the salad:

oh, gotta go, more here later…………….

Served on July 8th, Dialog Dinner with Steve Fowkes