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Friday, May 4, 2012

Curried Quinoa Salad

I absolutely LOVE quinoa. Not only is it chewy and delicious and satisfying, it is a nutritional powerhouse. Besides being a complete protein, quinoa is also high in fiber and packed with iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, folate, lysine, and other essential amino acids. Oh, and it is gluten-free. Bonus!


Several people who recently tried my curried quinoa salad requested the recipe so I will share it here. I make it a little differently every time so I will share a couple options and you can feel free to experiment. The curried quinoa with golden raisins is the base. The dressing stays more or less the same. It is the other additions that vary depending on what I have on hand. 


For the quinoa: Put 3/4 cups of uncooked quinoa into a saucepan. I double this to 1.5 cups for company and then double everything else as well. Cover with cold water and swish with hands. Gently pour off most of the water and cover again with fresh water. Let sit for a few minutes and up to 15. Gently pour off most of the water again and add 1.5 cups of fresh water. Place on a burner over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer turn the heat down to low and add 3 tablespoons of golden raisins, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and a pinch of salt. Stir and cover. Cook until water is absorbed. Approximately 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, fluff with a fork, gently stir in additions and dressing.
For the simple dressing: Whisk together 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth, 1 T. olive oil, 2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 t. kosher salt, a few grinds of black pepper.


The additions: If tomatoes are in season, they are awesome chopped up in this salad along with a coarsely chopped hard-boiled egg and some thinly sliced scallions.


If there are no tomatoes you can try chopped crisp apple, a small handful of fruit-juice-sweetened dried cranberries and keep the hard-boiled egg and scallions.


This dish tastes delicious still slightly warm and is maybe even better cold the next day.


Serves 4 (or 8 if doubled)


Try this and enjoy!


1 comments:

  1. I was fortunate enough to have some of this salad and it's delicious with a unusual texture; visual and taste delight.

    ReplyDelete