Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad

It's been unusual lately for my "to do" list to be completed by the afternoon but today it was. The list included trips to the store, helping out in Liam's classroom, and quite a bit of cooking. I made dinner for tomorrow night (prepped these meatball subs for reheating since tomorrow Adrienne has softball), banana bread for Adrienne's class' V-day party (to be posted later), and a wonderful new salad that I'm going to share with you for Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday.
About 2 weeks ago I bought a box of quinoa at Trader Joe's not really having any idea what I was going to make with it. In case you don't know, quinoa is considered a "supergrain" for it's high protein content and according to Wikipedia, "it is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest."
I knew I wanted to make something with it today and went searching the web for recipes. I didn't get much further than Food Network before choosing a recipe: Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad. It cooked up very quickly and the taste is wonderful. As an aside, If you've never had quinoa before, it's a nutty flavor with the texture of al dente pasta. Yum!

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad
(courtesy of Juan-Carlos Cruz)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup frozen green beans, defrosted (I used fresh that I steamed)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Combine quinoa with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking until all water is absorbed.
2. In a medium bowl, combine cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, green beans, walnuts, and green onions until well mixed. In a small bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic until well blended. Pour over the quinoa mixture. Toss until well blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.  http://polarbee.typepad.com/weblog/2007/02/productive_day.html