Musical pairing – All We Are by Matt Nathanson
What feels like an eternity but in reality was only a month ago, The Professor was gone for the weekend and I took the opportunity to head down to Indianapolis to do some shopping . . . yep, actually drove. by. myself . . . and I didn’t get lost which is quite the accomplishment if you know me and my sense of direction . . . or the lack thereof . . . But on the way home, I stopped in at the grocery store and picked up a couple of salads from the deli counter; one was a Japanese Tofu salad and the other was a Quinoa (KEEN-wah) salad – I enjoyed them enough to recreate both with my own spin . . .
We eat salads quite a bit around here and I, for one, get quite bored with lettuce, cucumber and a sad little tomato dressed with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice; no, I am not a fan of ranch dressing but even if I were, I would get bored with that too. Under normal circumstances, I would have passed on this salad because it’s made with quinoa and my experience with quinoa has been anything but pleasant . . . what caught my attention though was the word ‘curry’ and moved me from the ‘meh, shoulder shrug’ quinoa category into the ‘wow! this is really good’ quinoa category!
The citrus-curry dressing lends a bright and spicy punch to the crispness of the celery and apple, the sweet golden raisins balance the mild green onion and the addition of red pepper and sliced almonds give this salad texture – I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing this on regular rotation here at Smith Bites. I’ll be sharing my version of the Japanese Tofu salad in a future post, but for now I encourage you to try this very pretty and quite delicious salad!
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RED QUINOA SALAD WITH CURRY DRESSING
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups cooked red quinoa (cook according to package directions and cooled)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ½ cup diced red apple (I used a gala apple)
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ cup diced red pepper
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup sliced raw almonds
- salt/pepper
METHOD:
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
- Add ½ cup of dressing and mix until combined (SEE NOTE BELOW)
- Serve immediately
DRESSING:
- combine juice of 1 large grapefruit, navel orange and lemon to equal 2/3 cup
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1-1/2 teaspoons curry powder (or adjust to your tastes)
- pinch of kosher salt
METHOD:
Combine the above ingredients in a jar with lid and shake well.
SMITH BITES NOTES: You will only use ½ cup dressing for this recipe; reserve remainder for another use
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My favorite quinoa salad is also red but made with organic beets (cubed)+ lemon citrus dressing. i will try this version for supper tonight:)
I adore quinoa, so I’m sure this one would be a welcome addition to my kitchen! It’s so pretty, too.
I love Quinoa and especially the red. This sound delish and I can’t wait for the tofu dish!
I love the mix of curry and quinoa here, and that red quinoa looks stunning!
Wow, Debra, that is some great pick of flavors you’ve got going there! Love the sound of the dressing and it is on my must-try list! But red quinoa? I have to go look for it now! It is simply gorgeous! This is a great salad and a great meal!
Love the idea of the curry dressing on this.
We eat a lot of quinoa around here and I’m always on the lookout for new ways to spice (no pun intended) it up. This sounds perfect. I’m glad you went out on a limb and looked past the “meh” to bring us this dish. 🙂
Big fan of quinoa, and have a recipe will be sharing for picnic season. But Deb, I had to laugh. I have stood on my head to take a good picture of my quinoa salad (my hat even fell off..giggles) but my quinoa photos look like dog food. Aarf! Giggles Yours are perfect…just perfect!
Beautiful and I can almost taste it too!
That looks so tasty!
I bought red quinoa out of curiousity, but now I know that I prefer the white quinoa… but I’ll try it this way and see if it will out win the white this time! 😀
I’m a newbie when it comes to this star ancient grain (just added a bit to my usual weekly whole wheat bread baked yesterday). Can’t wait to try this gorgeous, healthy salad to get a full taste of what quinoa’s really about.
This quinoa salad looks so deliciously healthy and light, and the dressing sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to see your tofu salad recipe.
What a beautiful salad, now I’ve got another recipe to add to my list! I’ve been eating quinoa in so many different ways recently, I just can’t seem to get enough.
How pretty! And I love the flavors, too. Now, if I can just find some red quinoa – all I ever see at the store is the regular. But when I do, this is going on the roster!
Whoa….those pictures are beautiful!
What a pretty salad! Quinoa is one of our favorite ingredients to cook with – we use it about once each week. This curry dressing is going to be used on next week’s batch.
omg yum!!
Debra you may have convinced me to try quinoa and curry with this salad, looks amazing. Did you purchase that beautiful dish from anthropologie? I was looking a few this morning and I think I put that one or something similar in my basket.
WOW, almost looks supernatural.
that is a beeeauuutiful salad. I am always looking for new ways to eat quinoa- this is great!
It’s really a stunning salad, visually. I’m glad that it tastes as good as it looks!
I am taking a moment today to say hello to my Stumble friends. I don’t always leave comments, but I appreciate your shares. This salad is so colorful and seasonal too. GREG
Oh Deb this is beauty-full!
Last Passover I used the red Quinoa and mixed it with whatever I found in my mother’s home. It turned out to be delicious and my mother wanted it again this year. Of course, I couldn’t remember what I put in. Thanks for saving me and giving me something to please my mom.
LOL! I am the same way with orientation in space! But I am a great navigator:)
I cannot wait for some hot weather to start making salads with Israeli couscous, black beans, and quinoa.
I love nothing better on a hot day than a plate of sweet tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, dressed with olive oil and some s&p. Epitome of summer for me!
But we have been eating quinoa often lately. It is very versatile and adapts very well to different seasonings.
I have never tried to pair it with curry, and now that I read your post, I have to – all the ingredients fall in the “I love it” category:)
BTW, you made my day with that comment on my blog:) You are so wonderful:)
I love adding a grain or even legume salad to my leafy greens. This will no doubt be added to my weekly repertoire
Deb, this salad is simply stunning. It’s so vibrant in color, even if I didn’t know the flavors involved I’d want to eat it. James is really starting to come around to Quinoa too. I think this salad would push him over the edge into being a quinoa-lover. He is a complete sucker for anything curried.
Don’t you love the earthy, nutty flavor of quinoa? I just adore it. It’s something E and I always have in the house. And this salad is going to have to be made ASAP!
We are big Quinoa fans and it is almost a staple for our weekday lunches. There is so much you can with with it. Love the curry dressing, little sweet, little spicy combo. I am yet to find the red quinoa tho’. they look so much prettier. And I posted a Quinoa pudding with roses today!
must have been yum,
OMG! OMG! OMG! I love this recipe!!! Seriously, this might be one of my top ten from you. I love red curry and what a great recipe with the quinoa.
Gorgeous pics. Red quinoa is so sexy.
I love quinoa salads and I am excited about trying that citrus dressing with all the different fruits. I don’t know why I have never thought to do a dressing with grapefruit before. Grapefruit is coming out of my breakfast nook, for sure.
Thanks for sharing this, the pictures are gorgeous.
I agree with you – out with the lettuce…in with the quinoa! Besides, quinoa is much more fun to say!
This is so gorgeous! Needless to say I adore quinoa!
So pretty. The colors make me want to jump in the bowl. And anything curry, yes please!
What a healthy yet so delicious salad. The dressings sounds incredible.
I happen to love quinoa and you sealed the deal at curry!
I SPY AN ANTHROPOLOGIE PLATE!!!!!! I know… because I have the same one. 😛
Quinoa is one of those gems we know we should eat more of, but haven’t. We’ll work on it!
[K]
Yum yum! This looks so fresh and good! And of course, now I’m imagining all sorts of dire scenarios re your previous unpleasant quinoa experiences, possibly involving a Japanese game show where you had to eat a plateful of quinoa as the clock ticks down, before being dropped into a pool full of snakes???
This looks delicous. I’ve been experimenting with quinoa a lot ever since we’ve decided to really be better about our protein/carb intake. I have not seen red quinoa before. What is the difference? We’re vegetarians so I’m always looking for options.
I’m not absolutely certain about the health differences between regular and the red grain other than to say that I’ve read the darker, richer color of a food means more nutritional value. I don’t know if that’s the case with quinoa.
This is a beautiful salad! I have red quinoa on my pantry shelf so I will copy this recipe and make this salad this weekend. I think it will make a perfect lunch to take to work.
-Brenda
Brenda ~ realized after your comment that I hadn’t turned on the ‘print’ feature; my apologies! but it’s been corrected so you can now print the recipe if you’d like to.
OMGoodness I was just thinking of making quinoa salad I got red, I got regular. Very nice flavor profile Deb! And guess what I am not sure if it’s ok’d by higher authorities, but quinoa is kosher fr Passover, or so I say! lol Great pics!!
I’ve read that quinoa is kosher for Passover Shulie but I’m not Jewish so don’t take my word as gospel!!
You must, must try quinoa with guacamole–it’s kind of weird but it’s really, really delicious. It’s one of my favorite (non-pasta-based) sides. M will generally do a very “dry” guac (not really mashed together, but all of the flavors are present and the avocado is in chunks) and it works well.
Elizabeth, that sounds sooooo good! and I have avocados to use!!