Our curried quinoa salad is a variation on this recipe from Jennifer of Savor the Thyme. She was motivated to try something new from My Spice Sage, Goji Berries , for her December Progressive Party submission to Kitchen Play.

While we did not happen to have any Goji berries today, we did have dried cranberries and they added that sweet, chewy texture along with  the other zesty ingredients to our quinoa salad.

Here’s our take on this very easy, yet very tasty dish that would be perfect served as a salad or as a cold side dish. The vinaigrette is delicious and would make an excellent marinade for chicken or seafood as well.

 

Quinoa:

1 cup cooked quinoa

½ cup fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped fine

¼ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

1 small apple, diced

Vinaigrette (Makes about 1 cup):

½ cup canola oil

4 tbs. red wine vinegar

1 tbs. honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

½ lemon, zested

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. garam masala

1 tsp. turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup lettuce leaves of your choice (we prefer baby mesculn)

Combine the quinoa, chopped spinach, dried cranberries, pine nuts, and the apple.  Set aside.

Wisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette until blended.

Combine the quinoa with the vinaigrette until it is well coated.

You can now serve it alone as a cold side dish, or top with lettuce and serve as a salad course.