Recipe for Quinoa Salad with Avocado, Radishes, Cucumbers, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette

Do I dare confess that I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed this quinoa salad with avocado, radishes, cucumber, green onions, and a spicy cumin-lime vinaigrette? I've definitely been a slow adopter when it comes to quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) but recently when I wrote about cooking with quinoa for BlogHer.com, I made a promise to myself that I would try using it. Quinoa is loaded with nutrients, as well as being gluten-free and a source of complete protein, and it has a pleasant, somewhat nutty taste and slightly crunchy texture. Now that I realize I like quinoa so well, you can bet I'll be trying other experiments with this interesting seed that's cooked as a grain; meanwhile if you're also a quinoa novice, give this tasty salad a try and see what you think.

Nearly all quinoa has to be rinsed well with cold water, because the seeds are coated with saponins, which give the quinoa a bitter taste if they aren't rinsed off. You'll need a very fine mesh strainer, or you can use a paper towel inside a strainer to catch the tiny quinoa seeds.

You can cook quinoa in a rice cooker, but I just use the stovetop method. Use 2 cups water for 1 cup rinsed quinoa, and simmer about 15 minutes (or until all the liquid is absorbed, keep an eye on it.)

While the quinoa is cooking, dice the avocados and toss with lime juice, thinly slice green onions, and chop radishes and cucumbers in same-size pieces. I left just a little cucumber skin for color, and scraped out the seeds so the cucumber wouldn't make the salad watery.

Here's how much the cooked quinoa expanded (about 3 times the volume.) When the water is all absorbed, let the quinoa cool a little and then fluff with a fork. I cooled it in the salad bowl for about 30 minutes before I mixed the salad together.

While the quinoa cools, whisk together the lime juice, cumin, Spike Seasoning, Vege-Sal (or salt) and olive oil to make the dressing.

When the quinoa is cool, mix in the diced radishes, diced cucumbers, and thinly sliced green onions.

Stir in enough dressing to moisten the quinoa and vegetables (you may not need all the dressing if you prefer your salads on the drier side.)

Then gently stir in the diced avocadoes, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve. This was okay after being in the refrigerator overnight, but I don't think it would keep for more than a day or two without the vegetables losing their crispness.

Quinoa Salad with Avocado, Radishes, Cucumbers, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette
(Makes 4-6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

1 cup quinoa (rinsed well with cold water)
2 cups water
2 avocados, peeled and diced in 3/4 inch pieces
1 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (for tossing avocado)
1 cup chopped radishes (diced in 1/2 inch pieces)
1 large cucumber (peeled with thin green stripes remaining, seeds scraped out, and diced in 1/2 inch pieces)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

Dressing:
3 T fresh-squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use other all purpose seasoning blend of your choice)
1/2 tsp. Vege-Sal (or use 1/4 tsp. sea salt)
2 T extra virgin olive oil

Put 1 cup quinoa into a fine-mesh strainer (or put a paper towel inside your strainer if it's not fine enough to catch the quinoa seeds.) Rinse quinoa well with cold water. Bring 2 cups water to boil in a small saucepan, stir in quinoa, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. (Keep an eye on it, because it may take more or less than 15 minutes, depending on exactly how high you have the heat. You can also cook the quinoa in a rice cooker if you prefer.)

Let the cooked quinoa cool for a few minutes, then place in salad bowl, fluff with a fork and cool until quinoa is room temperature, about 15-30 minutes.

While quinoa cooks and cools, peel avocado, dice into 3/4 inch pieces, place in small bowl, and toss with 1 T fresh-squeezed lime juice. Peel cucumbers, leaving thin green stripes, scrape out seeds, and dice cucumbers into 1/2 inch pieces. Cut off root and stem end of radishes, wash if needed, and dice into 1/2 inch pieces. Thinly slice enough green onions to make 1/4 cup.

In a small bowl, stir together the 3 T lime juice, ground cumin, Spike Seasoning, and Vege-Sal, then whisk in the olive oil.

When quinoa has cooled to room temperature in the salad bowl, stir in the diced radishes, diced cucumbers, and thinly-sliced green onions. (Don't add avocado until the end.) Stir in enough dressing to moisten salad to your liking (you may not need all the dressing.) Gently stir in diced avocado, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve immediately.

This was okay when I kept it in the fridge overnight, but I don't think it would keep for longer than a day, and it was better freshly made.

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South Beach Suggestions:

Even though quinoa is technically a seed and not a grain, it's considered phase two for the South Beach Diet. This low-glycemic salad would make a great side dish for any phase 2 or 3 meal.
   http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/05/recipe-for-quinoa-salad-with-avocado.html

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 

Marinated Quinoa Salad

  I fell in love with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) the first time I ever tried it in Ecuador. It's a staple food of the Quechua, the indigenous people of the South American Andes. The ancient Incas called quinoa the "mother grain" and revered it as sacred.

Technically, quinoa isn't a grain at all, but the seed of the Goosefoot plant. Grain. Seed. Whatever. I just love its delicate, slightly nutty flavor and the fact that it's gluten-free. It's also considered to be a complete protein due to the presence of all eight essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. Grains like barley, wheat, and rice generally have less than half the protein of quinoa.

The seeds cook very quickly and always provided a nice, fluffy texture to my stews and soups. The thought of giving up my beloved little grain when I transitioned to a raw foods diet made me very sad. That is, until I discovered that quinoa seeds can be sprouted and eaten as raw, live food in salads and wraps. Turns out, it sprouts almost as quickly as it cooks. Well, not quite, but in 8-12 hours you have little baby quinoa sprouts. Hallelujah for the living mother grain!

For easy directions on sprouting quinoa, check out these Sprouting Instructions from the Sproutpeople®. And, from the basic to fancy schmancy, check out this assortment of sprouting kits.

Here's a couple of my favorite ways of enjoying quinoa in the raw.

Marinated Quinoa Salad

3 C sprouted quinoa
1/4 C olive oil
1 Tbsp tamari
juice of one lemon
juice of 1/2 lime
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of fresh mint, rough chopped
10 grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped
handful of goji berries

Marinate sprouted quinoa for 20 minutes in olive oil, tamari, citrus juices and garlic. Add mint, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, goji berries and toss. Serve on a bed of red and green leaf lettuce.


Quinoa Raisin Cookies
yields two dozen

1 C quinoa, soaked overnight and rinsed well
1 C almond meal **
1/2 C local raw honey or agave nectar
1 C raisins, soaked
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

Place quinoa, almond meal, honey, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and process until dough-like. Transfer dough to a large bowl and hand mix in the raisins.

Using a spoon for scooping, place small dollops on a dehydrator tray lined with a Teflex sheet. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to gently flatten. Tip: Wipe the bottom of the glass between cookies to prevent sticking.

Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 4 hours. Remove the Teflex sheet. Dehydrate another 4 hours. Climate, temperature and humidity all affect dehydrating time. The cookies should be crispy on the outside and still moist inside.

**Almond meal is raw, whole almonds that have been finely ground. I like Trader Joe's brand and you can't beat the price.   http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/2009/04/sprouted-quinoa-mother-grain.html

International Quinoa Salad

Whenever my husband sees that I’m cooking quinoa, his eyes light up and he asks if I’m making “The Salad.” It’s our favorite quinoa dish, but for a while I made it only on special occasions because I couldn’t figure out how to make it without using olive oil. I was just afraid that it wouldn’t be as tasty–and who can stand to see a favorite dish diminished? But I was determined to try to lighten up the recipe so that we could enjoy this fantastic salad more often, and I’m proud to say that I’ve done it. I think that this recipe is so good that you’ll never miss the olive oil.
It’s based on a recipe by Lorna Sass called Quinoa Salpiçon, a sort of South American version of the Middle Eastern grain salad tabouli, with lots of parsley as in tabouli but using quinoa instead of bulgur wheat. I like to think of it as a blend of cultures, a little of the Old World mixed with the New, though even the “new” ingredients date back thousands of years. Quinoa was first cultivated 5000 years ago. It was a staple food of the people in the Andes Mountains in Peru and Bolivia and was considered a sacred grain of the Incas. Chickpeas were first cultivated around 7000 years ago in Turkey, but their use spread from there to western Europe, and they’ve become an important part of the diets of many cultures.
I took the original salad and added a few ingredients–the corn and chili powder to enhance its South American flavor and the chickpeas to complement its Middle Eastern roots. And, of course, I’ve made it oil-free. The result is wonderful–tiny pearls of quinoa drenched in tangy, chili-seasoned dressing, with cubes of avocado that melt in your mouth and cucumbers and chickpeas for a little bit of crunch. It’s a perfect marriage of ingredients–and cultures.

International Quinoa Salad(click for printer-friendly version)
Quinoa:
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed very well
2 1/4 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
Vegetables:
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 medium-large tomatoes, finely chopped
kernels of 2 ears of cooked corn (about 1 cup)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
2/3 cup parsley — minced
1/3 cup fresh mint — minced
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced (reserve a few slices for garnish)
Dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (NOT lemon)
3 tablespoons vegetable broth or bean cooking liquid
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili pepper
To cook the quinoa in a pressure cooker, place it and the water, garlic, and salt in the cooker and lock the lid. Over high heat, bring to high pressure and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to come down naturally. Fluff the quinoa and allow it to cool.
Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Add the quinoa and mix well. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Mix well and refrigerate until chilled. Taste before serving, and add more lime juice as necessary (you want it to be tangy). Garnish with avocado slices and serve. Makes about 8 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): 239 calories, 55 calories from fat, 6.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 366.2mg sodium, 627.7mg potassium, 38.8g carbohydrates, 7.7g fiber, 4g sugar, 9.1g protein, 4.5 points.  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/07/international-quinoa-salad.html

Quinoa Salad Recipe with Yellow Grape Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Basil and Mint

 

Summer is the time for picnics and salads that are easy as pie to toss together. Make this tabbouleh inspired quinoa early in the day, before the heat zaps your cooking mojo. It only gets better the longer it chills. The Mediterranean flavors co-mingle their little hearts out.

Amounts are approximations, a template to guide you. Salad making is more of an art than science.

You'll need:

1 clove of garlic, peeled

2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked quinoa- see How To Cook Quinoa the Super Easy Way

A handful of sweet grape tomatoes- yellow is low acid, and delicious

1 carrot, grated

4 scallions, sliced (white and light green sections)

1/4 cup Kalamata olives, whole or pitted and chopped

1/3 cup slivered nuts- pecans, almonds or walnuts

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves

1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of 1-2 lemons or limes, depending upon size

Rub the clove of raw garlic inside a glass or ceramic salad bowl.

While the cooked quinoa is still a bit warm (but not steaming hot) scoop it into a bowl and fluff with a fork.

Halve or quarter the yellow tomatoes and add them to the bowl. Add in the grated carrot, sliced scallions, Kalamata olives, and slivered nuts. Toss lightly to combine.

Season with sea salt and ground pepper. Add the chopped fresh herbs. Drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil- enough to moisten. Toss to distribute. Squeeze a lemon or a lime all over the salad and toss.

Taste test (this is the fun part). Adjust the seasonings. Does it need more olive oil? Salt? More citrus? Is there a good balance of quinoa and add-ins?

When the seasoning tastes right, cover and chill until serving (at least one hour, but a few is even better).

Before serving, taste again and readjust seasonings if you need to. Chilling summer salads- such as quinoa, rice or potato- dulls certain flavors a bit.

Serve as a side dish. Your gluten-free peeps and vegan friends will thank you.

Makes roughly 4 to 6 servings.

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http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/07/quinoa-salad-with-yellow-tomatoes.html