Friday, May 13, 2011

Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing

quinoa and tomatoes

This is an easy interesting salad. 
Make it as a side for your family dinner or for a take-a-long for  outdoor parties, picnic, or get togethers. 

If you are not familiar with quinoa, it is time to start using it. It is a highly nutritious type of  "seed " that is a rich source of protein, fiber, and nutrients. It cooks up like a grain, is gluten free, and tastes greatPronounced "keen-wah", it was originally grown in South America in the Andes Mountain area.  It was brought to the United States in the 1980's and cultivated in California. 

Tricolor quinoa from Trader Joe's
 
Quinoa can be purchased in any health food store, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or in the health food isle in most supermarkets. It may come in a bag like rice or a small box . It looks like little puffed sesame seeds. It has a mild taste and is good plain as a side dish, or made into a pilaf or tabbouleh..

My husband, king of the rice eaters, now loves quinoa, and I was surprised to hear my grown son Jason say, "yes", when I offered to make quinoa ( I was impressed that he has had it before).

This recipe for quinoa tabbouleh is adapted from a recipe I saw on the Whole Foods Website called " Gluten Free Tabbouleh". It has lots of raw cut up salad vegetables and a great dressing. This is my version. 

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry, washed well)
1 cup parsley, chopped fine
1/4 -1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped fine ( optional)
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 cups small cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 crisp Kirby cucumbers, peeled and diced 
Juice of 1 large or 2 med lemons,
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside until cool. or make light fluffy quinoa in minutes in your Instant Pot ( link to recipe). 
Bowl of white fluffy quinoa

Combine tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, parsley and mint together in a large pasta type bowl. In a large cup mix olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning. Add cooled quinoa to the cut up vegetables and add dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve room temperature or chilled as a side dish.

Step by Step with Pictures



Chop all the vegetables



quinoa with lemon dressing
Mix cooled quinoa, chopped veggies and dressing
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   Oil- Free Version: 
     In 2021 I became oil-free. That means I will just omit the oil from the dressing. I'm trying to work on a better solution. Will update when I do...
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12 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the tutorial--I found that I have a box of quinoa I bought a while ago and need to use up. This looks like a combination of flavors that I would really enjoy!

    I'm so glad you posted this to Food on Fridays!

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  2. Hi Judee - this looks delicious!! Thanks for being my newest follower and I am happy to be yours too! :)

    Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday. I hope to see you again next week!!

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  3. Hi Judee,
    As for both of us featuring Quinoa this week, I think it's GMTA! :-)

    Thanks for stopping by ~ I appreciate it. I'm a new follower & will be sharing your site with a dear friend of mine who eats GF.

    Have a wonderful weekend ~
    Pat

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  4. I'm relatively new to quinoa--my grocery stores only recently started carrying it. Happy to have another recipe to try out. Especially one that looks perfect for warm weather!

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  5. Hi Judee, Thanks for sharing this at this week's Sugar Free Sunday along with the Kiwi Mojito.

    This quinoa dish look gorgeous!

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  6. It's my day for a blog hop, I'd love it if you came over and shared one of your great recipes at savory sunday!! Have a great day :)

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  7. I only have had quinoa once, but I liked it. Will have to keep this salad in mind.

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  8. oh i'm glad you shared this too on savory sunday! i love quinoa!

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  9. Quinoa is one of my all time favorites and I'm always looking for new recipes utilizing it. This salad looks just perfect for summer. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Hi! Following you from the Friday blog hop! Hope you visit my Cajun blog and return the follow!
    - Jessica @ http://cajunlicious.com

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  11. This looks so tasty! I shared your recipe on my Must Try Tuesday blog post this week.

    http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/06/must-try-tuesday-may-31-2011.html

    Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe!

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  12. My mom makes a similar quinoa salad during the summer and it always gets rave reviews. Yours looks fabulous!

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Your comments are appreciated. I love knowing who is stopping by to read my posts! Have a great day.

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