STONEFIRE GRILL QUINOA SALADS ROCK!
Review by Joanne Tucker and Sheryll Alexander
When we headed to Stonefire Grill in Fountain Valley (and Irvine!) for lunch with grandma to test out the restaurant’s new quinoa salads, we were not expecting such a delicious experience. Stonefire Grill, however, delivered a memorable meal and lots of leftovers for a rather low price.
Quinoa has been given “super food” status because it is both high in protein and contains all nine essential amino acids. Harvested in the high altitudes os South America’s Andes Mountains, quinoa is also free of gluten and has no wheat. When steamed, quinoa has a creamy, al dente texture that also takes on the flavor of the dish (like arborio rice in risotto).
Stonefire Grill created three new dishes with quinoa including a simple side salad prepared in vegetable broth with a dash of lemon mint and green onions ($1,59 single, $2.99 small, $4.99 medium, $8.99 large).
We first tried the “healthy hybrid” ($7.99). This Mediterranean-style salad was creamy and tangy with its fluffy quinoa, garbanzo beans, red onion, green bell peppers, Kalamata olives, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese, artichoke hearts and Dijon mustard vinaigrette.
The “keen green” ($8.99) salad was deemed our favorite dish. This blend of quinoa, fresh spinach leaves, pesto, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and huge avocado slices was dreamy (and pairs well with your next meal of steak, shrimp or chicken!).
Stonefire Grill Pizzas
We kept our lunch way under $50 by ordering the two huge quinoa salads above and a large half-veggie, half-cheese pizza (plus one soda and two beers!). While $44 may sound like a lot for lunch, we ended up taking half of each salad home and ate them with two other meals.
When the pizza arrived piping hot atop a metallic stand, we gasped. It was literally still steaming, bubbling and popping. We let it cool for quite a few minutes and then devoured a piece of this rather thin pie, which has a super tangy tomato sauce base peppered with garden herbs.
Headed home with our two quinoa salads, we were happy to nibble on them later as a side dish with a barbecued steak for dinner. There was even enough left over the next day at lunch for an entrée-sized salad! We tossed the slightly dried quinoa with our homemade dressing (extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic) and the little gems plumped up perfectly for just one more healthy meal.
Stonefire Grill does quinoa right with its relatively inexpensive, healthy and super fresh salads.
Stonefire Grill, 18727 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, 714.968.8300; Stonefire Grill, 3966 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 949.777.1177
Mother-daughter writing team Joanne Tucker and Sheryll Alexander run a news media agency based in Costa Mesa, California.
