Quinoa Arugula Salad

Mid-July. The book promotion is intensifying as September approaches. I have done six podcasts, three online interviews, and written two promotional essays. The promotional work is exhausting in a way that the writing is not — the writing is solitary, internal, the kitchen at five AM; the promotion is public, external, the living room with a ring light and a microphone and the pressure to be articulate about things I usually process in silence. The silence is my native language. The promotion requires my second language: speech.

I made cold tofu — hiyayakko — the simplest dish in my repertoire, the dish that requires nothing but a block of silken tofu and some toppings and the confidence to let simplicity be enough. I ate it on the balcony with Miya and the simplicity was the meal and the meal was the relief — relief from the promotional complexity, from the public performance, from the being-articulate. The tofu does not need to be articulate. The tofu is itself. The tofu is enough.

Ken called this week — he initiated the call, which is unusual, which is Ken-reaching-out, which is a weather event in the Nakamura climate: rare, significant, worth noting. He said: "I read the book." Four words. I held the phone and did not breathe. He said: "Your grandmother is in it." I said: "Yes." He said: "She would not have liked being in a book." I said: "I know." He said: "But the book is good." The sentence sat between us on the phone line for a very long time, the longest sentence Ken has ever let sit, and the sitting was the gravity of the sentence, because Ken does not say things are good unless they are good, because Ken does not waste words, because every word Ken speaks has been weighed and measured and found necessary before it leaves his mouth. The book is good. Ken said the book is good. I hung up the phone and sat in the kitchen and held the chipped bowl and cried the way I have not cried in years — hard, full-body, shaking — because my father read my book and said it was good and that is everything, everything, every single thing.

The hiyayakko on the balcony with Miya was the right meal for that moment — and the right meal for the days that followed Ken’s call, when I still felt wrung out and full at the same time, too full to cook anything complex, too grateful to eat carelessly. This quinoa arugula salad is the closest I come to that same philosophy when I want something with a little more body: a handful of greens, a grain that cooks itself while you sit quietly, a lemon, some olive oil, and the confidence to believe that nothing else is needed. It is not hiyayakko, but it speaks the same language — the language of enough, of restraint as its own kind of abundance.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water or vegetable broth
3 cups fresh arugula, loosely packed
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan or crumbled feta
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Cook the quinoa. Combine rinsed quinoa and water (or broth) in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 13–15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Cool the quinoa. Spread the cooked quinoa onto a sheet pan or wide bowl and let it cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. You can also refrigerate it briefly if you prefer the salad cold.
Assemble. In a large bowl, combine the cooled quinoa and arugula. Drizzle with the dressing and toss gently so the arugula wilts only slightly. Add the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts and toss once more.
Finish and serve. Divide between two bowls or plates. Top each with shaved Parmesan or crumbled feta. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to one hour before serving — the arugula softens beautifully as it rests.

Nutrition (per serving)

Quinoa Arugula Salad — When Simplicity Is the Whole Point