Red Quinoa with Persimmons, Black Beans, Golden Raisins and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Red Quinoa with Persimmons, Black Beans, Golden Raisins and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

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Serves 8

2 ½ cups cooked Red Quinoa

3 Fuyu Persimmons, cut into ½ inch dice

½ cup Golden Raisin

1 cup cooked Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons Fruity Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons Pomegranate Vinegar ***

2 Tablespoons Honey

1. Place vinaigrette ingredients in a 2 quart bowl and whisk until honey is well blended.  

2. In same bowl add quinoa, golden raisins, black beans and persimmons.

3. Toss well to incorporate the vinaigrette.  Serve now, or cover and refrigerate. I find this to be best if brought to room temperature before serving.

***I found the Pomegranate Vinegar at Trader Joe's; you could substitute any fruity vinegar.

Minty Honey Tangerine Quinoa Salad

We eat Quinoa at least once a week and this is one of my husband’s favorite salads.  It has a wonderful crunch and goes well with Ahi Tuna steaks that have been grilled over a charcoal fire, first coated with Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce.

Minty Honey Tangerine Quinoa Salad
Makes 8-10 generous servings
PRINTABLE RECIPE 

Salad

¾ cups uncooked Red Quinoa, rinsed well, drained

¾ cups uncooked White Quinoa, rinsed well, drained

1 ½ cups Celery, diced (about 2 stalks)

¾ cup unsweetened dried Cranberries, plus 1 cup boiling water to soak

 2 small Scallions with tops, sliced

1 cup Carrots, peeled and diced (about 2 medium)

¾ cup Whole Raw Almonds

6 small Tangerines, peeled, seeded, sectioned with pith removed

½ cup fresh Chives, chopped

½ cup fresh Orange Scented Mint, chopped

1 Teaspoon Olive Oil

DRESSING

3 Tablespoon Olive Oil

3 Tablespoon Honey

1 teaspoon Dried Red Pepper Flakes

Tangerine juice (from fruit)

3 Tablespoon Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Sea Salt and dash of Pepper to taste

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl using a fork or whisk until well blended.

 

Salad Preparation:

Cook Quinoa:  mix the red and white quinoa together, rinse several times in cool water, drain,  and follow package directions for cooking or use a rice cooker; add 3 cups of water to 1 ½ cups of dry quinoa.  Rice cooker will automatically shut off when quinoa is cooked. This has never failed for me and is the only way I cook quinoa.

Place dried cranberries in a heat resistant bowl and pour the boiling water over the berries. Allow to soak and plump up for about 10 minutes.

Place the cooked quinoa in a large 3 or 4 quart bowl.  Fluff with a fork and let cool while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Place the whole, raw, almonds in a skillet over medium heat, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and toss to coat.  Stir the almonds until lightly toasted; about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool.  Once nuts have cooled, rough chop them, I like to leave these in good size chunks for the crunch when mixed with the salad.

Dice the carrots, scallions and celery into a small dice, about a ¼ inch dice.  Chop the, chives and mint.  Peel, seed and remove as much pith from the tangerine’s as you have patience for.  Cut into small chucks; about three per section.  Save any juice that remains to add to the dressing.

Drain the cranberries in a mesh strainer, pressing just a bit to remove the moisture. Give the berries a rough chop to make a bit smaller.

Toss the quinoa with all the about ingredients and add the dressing. Mix until blended.  This is great at room temperature but is equally as good cold. 

Nutritional Information provided by NutriMirror

Machu Picchu Quinoa Salad

I have been coming up with more and more recipes these past few weeks as my husband and I try to follow a vegan diet. We have drastically reduced the amount of days a week that we eat meat.  Most weeks we may have it only once and often not at all.  It is not that difficult to do when you have wonderful beans, seeds and grains that will supply you with all the protein your body needs.  This salad was inspired from watching a video on Quinua Peru the other night and seeing a group of Indians picking quinoa in the fields.

Machu Picchu Red Quinoa Salad

(Makes 8-1 cup servings)

Quinoa (pronunced KEEN-wah) seeds require rinsing to remove the bitter saponin coating, that protects them from being eaten by birds. Simple rinsing with water in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear is enough of a cleaning. Make sure to use a fine mesh strainer so you don't lose the seeds down the drain.

1 cup dry Red Quinoa, rinsed well

1¾ cup Roasted Corn, frozen

1½ cups Cooked Pinto Beans, rinsed drained

5 small Scallions with tops, sliced

2 small to medium fresh Poblano Peppers, cleaned and diced

1 cup Roasted Roma Tomatoes, chopped (or 1 cup canned, diced tomatoes, well drained)

6 -8 Black Olives, such as Kalamata, chopped

Juice from 2 small lemons (about 4 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp gr. Coriander

1 Tbsp gr. Cumin

1 Tbsp dried Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh Cilantro leaves (garnish)

Cook Quinoa; follow package directions or use a rice cooker and add 3 cups of water to 1 cup of dry quinoa.  This should make about 3 cups of quinoa.  Make sure to rinse the quinoa prior to cooking under running water to remove the

Mix together olive oil, lemon juice and herbs and spices in the bottom of a 3 quart bowl.  

Add quinoa, pinto beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, olives and scallions to the oil mixture and toss together. The remaining heat from the quinoa will thaw the corn if you have not already done so.   

Add salt and pepper to taste.  I use the optional fresh cilantro leaves for a garnish, but you can also add that to the salad directly

Serve warm or refrigerate to blend flavors.

***This is fantastic heated and rolled up in a tortilla or Flatout flat-bread.  Top with your favorite salsa and some cheese if you like.

 Since I have this wonderful Peruvian wall hanging depicting children at a school in Machu Picchu, I will give you a history lesson on Quinoa.

Quinoa is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds. Quinoa originated in the Andean region of Peru, where it was successfully domesticated 3000 to 4000 years ago for human consumption, though archaeological evidence shows a non-domesticated association with pastoral herding some 5200 to 7000 years ago. (Wikipedia).

"Disfrute de la ensalada"

 Nutritional information provided by NutriMirror