Orange Pistachio Quinoa Salad Food

QUINOA SALAD WITH ORANGE & PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Cook the quinoa and rice in two separate saucepans of boiling water. Cover each and reduce heat to low. Cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes and the rice for about 20. Note, if you are using the red rice it will take longer to cook. Once cooked, spread them out on baking trays to cool off.
• Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion, stir, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Leave to cool.
• In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, garlic and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the quinoa, rice, apricots and pistachios and stir well. Pour over the dressing and stir well to combine. Stir in the arugula just before serving.
• This salad is best served at room temperature. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and bring it to room temperature before serving.

ORANGE-PISTACHIO QUINOA SALAD

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 12-14 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Cool., In a large bowl, combine romaine, beans, mandarin oranges, cucumber, pistachios, onion and cooled quinoa. In a small bowl, finely grate zest from orange. Cut orange crosswise in half; squeeze juice from orange and add to zest. Whisk in oil, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad; toss to coat.

QUINOA SALAD WITH APRICOTS, BASIL AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in the quinoa. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the liquid is just absorbed and the quinoa is moist and nearly tender, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and immediately stir in the oil, apricots, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside to cool slightly, about 20 minutes, stirring a couple times. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
• When the quinoa is cool and ready to serve, stir in the arugula, basil, lemon juice and pistachios. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the goat cheese and serve.

ORANGE QUINOA SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Cook raw quinoa in a large skillet for 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.
• Pour quinoa into a sieve and put the sieve in a bowl.
• Add enough water to cover the quinoa and rub the grains between your hands for 30 seconds. Rinse and drain.
• Do this two more times. If you skip this step, your quinoa will be bitter. (If you don't want to go to so much trouble, try making this with couscous instead.).
• In a large saucepan, combine rinsed quinoa with 2 3/4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt.
• Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Bring to room temperature, then stir in remaining ingredients and dressing.
• Cover and chill.