Quinoa Curry and Citrus Salad

Serves 4 as a main dish salad

Salad
1 bag of mixed greens

½ a large jicama chopped into bite size pieces

Cut fresh orange slices from 1 orange, removing the membrane if you are patient (or use canned mandarin oranges)

Cut grapefruit slices from 1 grapefruit, or spoon out bite size bits

Avocado slices

Toss salad in the dressing:

¼ cup light salad oil like canola

Juice of ½ a lemon

1 Tablespoon orange juice

1 Tablespoon wine vinegar

Pinch of salt and red pepper

Drizzle of honey

Top with a generous dollop of warm Quinoa curry:

Boil 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water, bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes until the water is absorbed.

Stir in 2 Tablespoons of curry power (mix your own, or try a purchased blend -- I love Penzey’s blends, in particular their curries), but you won’t go wrong with a pleasing mixture of tumeric, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, red pepper and saffron, ½ cup raisins, 1-2 tsps grated lemon peel, pinch of salt.  Just the raisins and lemon peel make a good combination, you might taste after adding them, and stop short of the curry.

Top the lot of it with chopped walnuts.

More Music to Quinoa to:

Sukay - Aquella Noche

Quinoa is a complete plant protein, with all the essential amino acids. As a Nerd Mother-of-a-vegetarian, that makes me hold it dear.  

Why?  It is a beautiful thing.

Each of our cells is composed in part of proteins. Proteins play out our cells’ functions, and shape their nature; our cells communicate with each other via proteins, and bits of proteins. We make our proteins by stringing amino acids together in a particular order, and the act living is one grand protein dance.

We can synthesize many of the amino acids we need from smaller simpler molecules, so while they are equally important amino acids, they are called “non-essential”, as we can make them ourselves. But 8 of the amino acids we can’t make, so we need to eat them, and to bring them into our bodies from the outside. Growing children (and the people who love them) need to be particularly careful about this.  For people who eat meat and fish, it is easy to be sure you are getting all of your essential amino acids through your diet.  Vegetarians need to be a bit more thoughtful, and eat a balanced diet combining different protein sources. Depending on if you are vegan or not, healthy combinations can include beans, lentils, soy milk, dairy, cheeses, nuts, eggs, peanut butter, tofu, spinach. Mama quinoa is a great addition, as you get all of your essential amino acids in every bite.

As an example of why you need every single one of those amino acids, let me introduce you to just one of the myriad beautiful proteins from which you’ve composed yourself. My personal favorite protein-biography (although they generally all have interesting stories) goes to the set of proteins called HLA proteins (or Human Leukocyte Antigens if you are feeling formal). They are a class of elite warrior proteins, proteins that are expressed on the surface of essentially all of our cells. They are beautiful. The name of the particular soldier I’ve pulled from the ranks to meet you is HLA-A11. HLA proteins are on the front lines of the battle all of us living things are continuously engaged in: the Molecular Wars (i.e. how to keep you you, and keep out from under your skin a world of harmful microorganisms, that would use you as a growing field, if your body was ever to waver in its vigilance). 

HLA-A11 is one of a class of proteins that helps us to heal when we are infected with a virus. HLA-A11 comes into being when a cell strings together amino acids in the right order, an order specified and passed along by the HLA-A11 gene.  As is the case for most complex proteins, every single one of the 20 amino acids are required to make this protein; and you really don’t want the assembly part of your cells to be shortchanged as you piece your protein-self parts together from amino acid components (so eat your Quinoa!).  When the 365 amino acids of HLA-A11 are linked together in this precisely order:

mavmaprtlllllsgalaltqtwagshsmryfytsvsrpgrgeprfiavgyvddtqfvrfdsdaasqrmeprapwieqegpeywdqetrnvkaqsqtdrvdlgtlrgyynqsedgshtiqimygcdvgpdgrflrgyrqdaydgkdyialnedlrswtaadmaaqitkrkweaahaaeqqraylegrcvewlrrylengketlqrtdppkthmthhpisdheatlrcwalgfypaeitltwqrdgedqtqdtelvetrpagdgtfqkwaavvvpsgeeqrytchvqheglpkpltlrwelssqptipivgiiaglvllgavitgavvaavmwrrkssdrkggsytqaassdsaqgsdvslackv.

HLA-A11 folds up in precisely the way that is needed to carry out its function. HLA proteins form a hollow region like cupped hands, a flat base region rimmed by two spirals. When you are infected with a virus, some of your cells become infected with that virus, and the virus will take over the operations of an infected cell and turn it into a viral production factory. To eventually clear the virus from your body and to heal, you need your immune system to recognize and eliminate infected the cells. You’re personally really good at this, or you wouldn’t have survived to be reading these notes. It never ceases to amaze me that even though I can hardly ever find my glasses or my car key, still my genetic memory is so fine that I can structure my own bit of the universe with such elegant precision (and so can my dog, but then she can also find my glasses).

The HLA proteins do their part by carrying a fragment of the infecting virus to the cell surface, becoming a molecular beacon signaling the immune system that the cell they are sitting on is infected and needs to be targeted and destoyed. The picture shows a crystal tracing of an HLA-A11 protein in blue, with its small partner beta-2 microglobulin in pink, valiantly carrying a bit of a hepatitis virus, shown in bright yellow, to the cell-surface, where it will call for destruction of the infected cell.  What happens to the infected cell after your immune system notices it is far too violent for a recipe.

HLA A11 on the job:

by Pdeitiker [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons