Showing posts with label quinoa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quinoa. Show all posts

Cold Quinoa Salad with fresh mint, craisins & almonds

Howdy everyone!  How was your Memorial Day weekend?  Longer than normal, I hope.
It's a funny thing about long weekends.  If you're like me you have this idea that you'll be able to get a bunch of extra stuff done.  But in reality, more stuff is going on, so you end up getting less done.
Oh well.

Instead of talking about what we didn't get done, let's talk about what we did get done!


This little beauty of a salad is something I did manage to get done.

I can't seem to resist buying mint at the farmer's market....it smells too good.  But that's OK because it forces me to find ways to use it.  It's refreshing taste is perfect in this Cold Quinoa salad.  Add a little sweetness with craisins and rice vinegar combined with hearty and protein filled quinoa and sliced almonds and you have yourself a healthy-hearty-tasty snack.  Plus, it's totally easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Quinoa (+ water to cook quinoa in) - whichever brand you like will do.  I use this one:
1 Cup of fresh mint, chopped
1/4 Cup of craisins
1/4 Cup of sliced almonds
Rice vinegar, to taste
Salt & Pepper, to taste

How to:
Cook quinoa in water based on the package instructions.
Let it cool.  To speed up the cooling process you can rinse the quinoa in cold water; you will probably lose some through the holes in your strainer, but if you're in a hurry this method works.
Place quinoa in your serving bowl and add chopped mint, craisins and sliced almonds; mix.
Add rice vinegar to taste.  I add a couple of shakes, stir, taste and add more if I think it needs it.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve & enjoy!

You can also find this at Tasty Kitchen!

**I've shared this recipe on the following sites, click the links for more tasty recipe ideas!





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Pinsipiration! - Recipe Find - Curried Quinoa Wraps with Avocado Citrus Slaw

I continue to be Pinspired.
The latest pinspiration were these:

Photo via Pinterest

Curried Quinoa Wraps with Avocado Citrus Slaw

The Scoop - I've been looking for a tasty lunch treat that is protein packed but meatless.  Not an easy feat.  If you are not familiar with quinoa, you can learn more about it here.  Long story short:  it is pronounced Keen-Waa; it is a protein packed grain that is cooked like rice and can be used in a variety of ways.
The Verdict - These were really tasty and filling. I made them on a Sunday to use in our lunches for the week.  
The Fix - Not really a "fix", but, if I made these again I'd cut the recipe in half.  The Cyclist and I were eating these daily for nearly a week (he got two in his lunch) and we still didn't finish it all.  I was getting a little curried out by Friday.
Mentionables -

  • For the Curried Quinoa:  IDK what "Muchi Curry" is, I used plain old Spice Islands Curry Powder and it worked just fine.  I used all orange juice, as in I picked oranges off of our tree and juiced them.  
  • For the "fold into cooked quinoa":  I left out the cashews because someone ate them we were out and threw in a handful of sliced almonds instead.  I thought it seemed like a lot of tahini, but the flavors came together nicely.  I did not have a tangerine, so I used a chopped up blood orange instead.  The mint added a nice flavor and I wouldn't leave it out even though it's listed as optional.  I didn't use nutritional yeast because I don't know what it is didn't have any.
  • For the Avo-Citrus Tahini Slaw:  I forgot to buy an avocado. Duh.  I used an English cucumber and extra carrots and lettuce.  I also didn't have liquid smoke, so I left that out.  An avocado probably would have been better, but this worked just fine too.
Last but not least:  If you have a giant dog that looks like this...



...don't leave your whole wheat tortilla wraps on the counter to thaw while you take a shower.
Someone might invite themselves to have a snack.

Happy lunching!
TCW




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