I had selected red quinoa at the store and when I started cooking it I really didn't know what Dorie meant when she said that quinoa is cooked when each grain has a thin ring around it. Huh?! Well, of course, she meant exactly what she said.
I drained it; let it cool, and then seasoned with salt and pepper. I added some pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, raisins, dried dates, dried plums, dried apples, dried apricots, dried pears, and dried sour cherries. I mixed the extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, ground ginger, and lemon juice in a jar and poured over the salad.
When I brought the salad to the table I served it on a bed of mixed greens like Dorie suggested and added a dollop of yogurt, but my husband and daughter ate their quinoa salad plain. After tasting it, I felt that the mixed greens and yogurt took away from the quinoa salad. Each of us really liked the quinoa with the fruit and nuts and felt good that we were eating something that was healthy and good for us, plus it was the first warm day that we have had and so it was the perfect dinner salad for a warm evening. This is a recipe that I will definitely make again and change it up with different fruit, nuts, and herbs.
Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what variations the other members made on this salad. You can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, p. 138.
Next French Friday: Garlicky Crumb-Crusted Broccoli
I love all the different fruits and nuts you used in your salad - it sounds really delicious! :)
ReplyDeleteDid you use herbs? I used a ton of mint and parsley and just loved it. I don't usually go for meatless meals but this was an exception we will get used to this summer as I play around more with this one. Did you use a meyer lemon in the dressing? :)
ReplyDelete@Sara thank you!
ReplyDelete@Sis.Boom. I bought parsley and mint and forgot to put them in the salad! Sheesh! I will add them to the leftover quinoa mix today for lunch. And I used just a regular lemon. :)
Yes, I thought the salad was too dry to go with the greens. That red quinoa is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't been adventurous to try any fancy coloured quinoa. Love the look of the dark quinoa in your salad. I didn't see any herbs though. I used all the herbs and liked how each one burst in the mouth when I took bite. But loved mint the most.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors on your plate, Elaine! I bet your salad was amazing with all the different nuts and fruits you used. I kept mine simpler and used cilantro.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I skipped the salad... But I did dollop some plain Greek yoghurt on top & loved the tang in combination with the lemon (and this was definitely better on the second day).
ReplyDeleteI like the darker quinoa - I guess I need to break open my box of red next time I make this :-)
Beautiful, Elaine! Wish I would've had some greek yogurt to top mine off with. :)
ReplyDeleteI love your combination of fruits and nuts, and the red quinoa is stunning! Great photos, too. It looks like a wonderful summer picnic- I'm envious!
ReplyDeleteThe red Quinoa adds a lot of interest to this salad! I'm perusing the comments on FFwD to see what variations people used. I'm making this in a little while and look forward to leaving my link as well!
ReplyDeleteYour salad looks wonderful. Love your photos! I also thought this salad could stand alone, without the yogurt or greens! I served it with the yogurt last night for dinner but for lunch today, ate it plain and it was wonderful! I think it sounds like a great salad for a picnic!
ReplyDeleteLoved your photos - and that pretty blue dinnerware. Nana and I enjoyed trying quinoa and I know I will be revisiting this recipe again. Nana was not a huge fan and also doesn't care for yogurt of any sort-so the odds were stacked against her on this one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Greek yogurt on top. The whole process gave me ideas for how to try new versions in the future. Fun !
ReplyDeleteThe red quinoa is so pretty against the greens...and you used such a fabulous variety of nuts and fruits! Nice job :)
ReplyDeleteWe felt like the greens and yogurt interfered a bit with the flavor of the salad too. I'm glad your family liked it!
ReplyDeleteI too thought it was magic to watch the little rings appear on the quinoa- the magic of FFWD!
ReplyDeleteI liked using the greens and the yogurt - it made it feel more like a complete meal than if I had just served the quinoa/fruit/nut/herb mixture. Your plate looks fantastic; those apples definitely stood out from the rest of the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteElaine, this is a really interesting recipe. It's a perfect salad for a summer meal. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the salad greens and yoghurt took away from the salad intself - the yoghurt in particular kind of drowned it. I used red quinoa too. I wasn't a fan of this, so for the rest f the quinoa, I will try something different.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to use so many different nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. I love sour cherries and pears; I bet they were great in this salad.
ReplyDeleteI served my quinoa salad on greens too, but I think the greens needed a spoonful of dressing on top. I'll try that next time!
Your dish looks so pretty with the red quinoa and all of the different fruits. I bet cashews would be delicious in this! I agree that you can adapt this to whatever you have in the pantry which is nice. I liked it better w/out the yogurt as well. Great post and beautiful dish!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful - I only see one variety of quinoa - I LOVE it and use it every week! Red??? Hm... what a wonderful presentation - and foray into a new grain!!!
ReplyDeleteYour completed dish looks very pretty. The red quiona looks great and I agree, the salad and yogurt wasn't especially needed. The quoina definitely can stand alone.
ReplyDeleteI love the way your red quinoa looks. I'm excited that there are so many ways to change this up. I know this will appear on our table again. I agree this one can stand alone, though with inspirations from FFwD posts, I did dollop some yogurt on the leftovers I had for lunch today. It was also good, though I do think I liked it better plain.
ReplyDeleteElaine, thanks for your comments on my blog! Answering your questions, this is flower nail:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3e30da27-475a-bac0-5b9517d6caf8bb75
And the design on top of the cake is actually the impression from a round cooling rack :).
It looks delicious! Your pictures are so bright - I'm a little jealous of the sunshine!
ReplyDeleteElaine, your salad is beautiful! I've only tried white quinoa, but the dark looks great!
ReplyDeleteI was the only one who ate the salad with the greens, because mine was the plate that posed for the photo:) I think that greens were not necessary, but I loved the creaminess and tang of yogurt.
ReplyDeleteI made quinoa many times before, but I never really paid attention to the rings on each grain:) Amazing! I also wonder if red quinoa tastes any different. I guess there is always the next time:)
Fantastic combination of fruits and nuts, Elaine - I loved how your list just kept on going. Sounds delicious! I also like how lovely the salad looks in your dinnerware. Red quinoa is really attractive.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed it both with the salad and yogurt and without.
Elaine, this looks delicious! Love that you used red quinoa! Our whole foods has the red quinoa with cashews in the salad bar and it is one of my favs! What a great combo with the dried fruit--so glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteYour salad looks really great. I've got to try the red quinoa. I wonder if it tastes very different from the white?
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