Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Citrus-Pomegranate Quinoa Salad


So I've wanted to try something with quinoa in it for some time -and I finally got the guts to buy it and make something.....and, eh ...ick?  haha - This wasn't bad but if my option had been to skip dinner or eat this - it would have been to skip dinner.  Won't be making this again with quinoa, but thought it might be good with brown rice!  I'm going to keep looking for another recipe using quinoa....I'm determined to find something good!!
Makes 6-8 main dish servings and 10-12 side dish servings - OBB

Ingredients:
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro or parsley
1 cup pomegranate arils
1 can garbanzo beans or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or chicken (or vegetable) broth
1-2 avocados, cut into small cubes (depending on how much you love avocado and how big the avocados are)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 medium orange)
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 medium juicy lemon)
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1/2 medium juicy lime)
2-3 teaspoons sugar, honey, agave, or Splenda (just add it to taste)
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
1/2 heaping teaspoon kosher salt
A few cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 clove minced garlic

Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.

Combine diced cucumber, minced onion, chopped cilantro, pomegranate seeds, and drained and rinsed beans in a large salad bowl. Toss with quinoa. Drizzle the dressing over the mixture and toss to combine, then chill until ready to serve. Before serving, add diced avocado and eat immediately.

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

i like how you say is "wasn't bad" but that you would rather starve than eat it again. haha!

Lisa said...

haha well Ross ate it all and said it was ok....but yes - I would prefer to not eat than eat it :)