Quinoa Salad with Lemon Mint Dressing

Quinoa Salad with Lemon Mint Dressing
Be the first to
rate this recipe!
member ratings
Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 6
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 353.2
  • Total Fat: 24.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  • Sodium: 491.0 mg
  • Total Carbs: 29.0 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
  • Protein: 9.3 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Quinoa Salad with Lemon Mint Dressing calories by ingredient


Introduction

This refreshing, bright, sweet and savory quinoa salad was featured in a cooking demonstration by the Natural Gourmet Institute at the New York Vegetarian Food Festival in March 2012. This refreshing, bright, sweet and savory quinoa salad was featured in a cooking demonstration by the Natural Gourmet Institute at the New York Vegetarian Food Festival in March 2012.
Number of Servings: 6

Ingredients

    Quinoa Salad
    -------------
    ¼ cup pine nuts
    1 cup quinoa, rinsed
    1 ½ cups water
    ¼ teaspoon salt
    4 sundried tomatoes (¼ cup), soaked in hot water until soft, then drained and minced
    ½ cucumber (4 ounces), seeded and diced
    2 scallions, green and white portions thinly sliced
    ¼ cup currants
    ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
    Salt and pepper to taste

    Lemon-mint dressing (recipe below)
    -------------------------
    ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
    ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
    1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    2 tablespoons maple syrup
    ¼ cup loosely packed mint leaves
    1 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste

Tips

This recipe is from the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Substitute an English cucumber if you can find one. The extra crunchiness is amazing and you don't have to peel it. In the dressing, use Grade B (refers to darker color and bolder flavor, not lesser quality!) maple syrup for perfect balance with the mustard. Photo from culinaryexplored.wordpress.com blog.


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Place pine nuts on baking tray. Toast pine nuts in oven until lightly golden, approximately 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Bring water to boil in 2-quart pot. Add quinoa and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer until all water is absorbed, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and set aside, covered, to steam for another 10 minutes.

Transfer quinoa to bowl and fluff with fork. When quinoa is cool, add toasted pine nuts, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, currants, and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss with dressing. Serves 6.

For the Lemon-Mint Dressing: Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Makes 1 cup.

Serving Size: makes 6 servings

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LESLIEHENRY.