Citrus Quinoa Salad
Eat right, stay healthy!
Ingredient Note: Quinoa is available in most natural-foods stores and the natural-foods sections of many supermarkets.
Quinoa, a delicately flavored grain that was a staple in the ancient Incas' diet, makes this salad substantial and satisfying. The
delicate flavor of quinoa is a similar to couscous. It can be used as a pasta substitute in cold pasta salads. Quinoa cooks quickly,
making it perfect for weeknight pilafs and hearty grain salads like this one. The grain is higher in unsaturated fats and lower in
carbohydrates than most grains, and the quality of its protein is superb, roughly equivalent to that of milk. 1 cup has 22 grams of
high quality protein. (1 cup milk has 8.35 grams, 1 cup whole wheat cereal 5 grams)
Rinse and cook quinoa
- 2 cups quinoa
- 4 cups water
- ½ tsp salt
Put a large paper towel in a colander and set it in a sink. Put dry quinoa in a bowl, cover with water, stir then pour into the paper
towel lined colander. Throw paper towel away and replace paper towel with another one and place colander in sink. Pour rinsed
quinoa into a pan with 4 cups water and ½ tsp salt. Cook according to instructions. Drain into paper towel lined colander.
Mix together salad ingredients in a large bowl
- 1/3 cup currants (soaked in hot water and drained then patted dry)
- 12 dried apricots, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup finely diced red pepper
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
Make vinaigrette
- Grated zest of one lemon
- 4 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
Salt to taste
- ¼ cup light olive oil
- 2 Tbsp cooking liquid from quinoa
Toss salad ingredients, vinaigrette with the warm quinoa. Makes 8 large servings.
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