a citrus salad, on a rainy day

I've been sick for over a week and haven't done any baking or cooking. It's been chicken soup (sans the noodle), ginger ale and pho. Pretty soupalicious. Today was the first time I've been able to actually taste anything.  It has been pretty crazy in the city (with a small event called the Olympics), the sun has been out and downtown Vancouver has had an intensely patriotic spirit people have never seen before... Today I woke up and knew I had to go back to work after being off sick and the rain was pouring. After an exhausting walk to work I knew it would be a long day.


To brighten my spirits I thought that I would make my favourite Quinoa Citrus Salad for dinner. 



I was introduced to this salad back in high school. Before Quinoa was commonly known and pronounced properly and WAY before its nutritional info hit the Canadian Food Guide. I remember when I had to go to the local grocery store and ask 3 people before someone even knew where to find Quinoa. Over the years it's become more readily available and last week I was even able to find it at Costco (thanks to a colleague from work letting me know they sell it there). Not only is it sold in large quantities now it is made in a wheat free facility!   Jackpot.

Now that is a main stream grain.







I've added a few things to the recipe my friends mum gave me - it's pretty flexible and any seed or dried fruit would be tasty in this salad.

Citrus Quinoa Salad

1 cup Quinoa

¼cup Diced dried apricots

¼cup Diced dates

¼cup Dried cranberries

¼cup Sunflower seeds

½cup canned Mandarin oranges, halved

½cup Fresh strawberries, sliced

2 green onions; diced

1 tbsp Sesame oil

2 tbsp Granulated sugar

¼ tsp Coriander 

1 tbsp of the mandarin juice

1 Lime, zested

Juice of 1 lime (about 3 tablespoons)

Rinse quinoa under cold water in sieve. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil. Stir in quinoa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Let cool.


Dressing: in a small bowl combine sesame oil, sugar, coriander, zest of the lime, lime juice and mandarin juice.



Mix together remaining ingredients into the cooled quinoa. Add the dressing, toss and serve. If you want the dressing to marinade make 2 hours before serving. I personally love this the next day. I could eat it forever.
Serves 4.