Sweet & Savory Quinoa Salad
I love quinoa.
Quinoa has kind of become a joke within my family because when I first wrote about the tasty grain, neither my mom nor my grandma had even heard of the stuff. They didn’t know how to pronounce it and apparently had a good laugh over the crazy things I eat.
Since then, I have several other recipes that feature quinoa, including a general quinoa salad, island getaway quinoa salad and I even threw some into my seven layer salad! Today, I have a new one to add to the mix.
Sweet & Savory Quinoa Salad (adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
Need:
3 small green onions, chopped
3 c water
1 c dry quinoa, any variety will do
1/4 c golden raisins
lemon juice, to taste
3 small zucchinis, grated
4 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp dried dill
feta cheese to your hearts desire
Do:
- Cook the quinoa in the water, just until soft. Do not overcook. Rinse using a fine mesh strainer, or, if you’re ghetto like me, put some paper towels inside a colander. Whatever you need to do to drain that darn water.
- While the quinoa is cooking, chop up the onion and cook in a large pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, until the onions soften.
- Add the sesame seeds and the raisins to the pan. Cook just enough to heat through.
- Mix the quinoa, onions, raisins, zucchini, sesame seeds and dill together. Pour lemon juice over the mixture and adjust to taste. If it needs salt, add some, but not too much, because the feta is super salty.
- Stir in the feta last (again, however much you want) and stir together. Serve warm or room temperature but keep leftovers in the fridge.
Quinoa is a complete source of protein for us humans, meaning it contains all the amino acids we need. It’s also high in dietary fiber and is great for people with a gluten sensitivity, because it is completely gluten free! I actually cooked a whole pot load of quinoa the night before, so throwing this salad together was a cinch.
The golden raisins plump up a bit and give this salad a sweet side, while the onions and feta balance out the savory side. I ate this almost every day for lunch and didn’t even tire of it!
I love, love, love dill so I knew this recipe would be perfect for me. I’m thinking my next dill endeavor is going to be Mama Pea’s Dill Pickle French Fries. Mm. Starchy. Carby. Dill-y.
I was so freakin’ excited to read this when you posted it because we bought Quinoa the night before at all places, Walmart…the only place I’ve seen it that isn’t specialty. I wanted to see what it looked like cooked because the grain doesn’t always give away the consistency. I’ll get on making this!
This recipe looks unbelievable, I’m gonna try it really soon.
I recently wrote an article on the health benefits of quinoa, check it out.
http://www.theironyou.com/2011/03/more-on-quinoa.html
Peace
Mike @TheIronYou`
Awesome article! Thanks!
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