Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Asian Quinoa Salad

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 10 comments » / quinoa, salad, vegetarian

As I mentioned in my burger post, I recently guest-posted for Beth of Eat.Drink.Smile. while she spends time with her little bundle of joy.  I got to meet him when I delivered this quinoa salad for her.

I knew I wanted to bring her a dish that would be well rounded in vegetables, protein, but also have flavor so you’d want to eat it!  Personally when I look for healthy fuel for my body, I think of quinoa, because it’s a great source of protein.  I thought about bringing her my favorite quinoa dish, but I wanted to something with more veggies.  So, I turned to my bookmarked recipes and found one from Weight Watchers.  I’ve made another quinoa recipe from Weight Watchers and loved it, so I thought I’d give this one a go.  To add a bit more visual pop, I used a mixture of red & white quinoa.  As far as I know, there’s no added nutritional value in red quinoa.  I liked the flavor of this, but felt it needed a bit more pop, so I added some lime juice & zest to perk it up. Unfortunately, the red cabbage (which is often more purple than red) will turn the quinoa a purple/gray color before too long.  It’s a good thing I snapped the photos right after making it!  I liked this dish, and loved all the veggies.  I will say, I think when I make this again, I’ll just sub shelled edamame for the sugar snap peas.  I love edamame, and that way I wouldn’t need to spend the time trimming the sugar snap peas.  If you were to use edamame, and a bag of cabbage mix, this meal would come together even quicker!  I’m glad I have another quinoa dish in my reportoire!

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Asian Quinoa Salad

Yield: Approximately four servings, about 1 heaping cup each

You could simplify this recipe by using bagged coleslaw mix.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup(s) canned chicken broth, or water
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, well-rinsed
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp orange marmalade
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 cup uncooked sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved, OR shelled edamame
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 small sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped
2 Tbsp uncooked scallions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine broth and quinoa; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, marmalade, oil, ginger, salt and lime zest & juice; set aside.

After quinoa has cooked for 10 minutes, toss in snap peas (or edamame) to partially steam them; cover and simmer until most of liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in carrots, cabbage, peppers and dressing; mix to thoroughly combine. Garnish with cilantro, scallions and sesame seeds. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.