Saturday, August 2, 2008

Crunchy Quinoa Salad

Hey, high school friends (and anyone else that reads this blog)! I'm finally back home from vacation, so I'll start by posting one of my favorite recipes! I received this recipe from a work friend and it has become a staple for our family this spring and summer. I keep it in the fridge and it makes for a good lunch or a side dish for dinner. I am trying to add more diverse whole grains into our diets, and quinoa is a good one because it also has a significant amount of protein (which is great for my 2 year-old vegetarian). To read more about the healthy benefits of quinoa go here.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa (yields 2 cups cooked)
1 Tbsp sunflower oil (I have replaced this with other oils... canola, olive)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 bunch scallions sliced (I usually leave this out if making just for my family)
1 cup raisins

Directions

Cook quinoa: First rinse the grains in a fine mesh strainer. Cook like rice on the stove top (1 part quinoa, 2 parts water), bringing water to a boil and then turning down to a simmer and covering. Should be cooked in approximately 15 minutes, but check. Or you can throw it all in a rice cooker, like I do!

Once quinoa is cooked you might want to let it cool a little. Mix all of the ingredients together and enjoy! (Sometimes the smell of the apple cider vinegar is a little over-powering, but oddly enough the taste has never been too strong for me... maybe it is my over-active olfactory system!)

1 comment:

Flo said...

oooo... we love quinoa here!!! I'll have to try this out!