RECIPE: QUINOA TANGERINE SALAD
Quinoa Tangerine Salad is a very colourful, flavourful, protein rich and filling salad. Not difficult at all to make, add ingredients of your choice. Colour, different textures and taste makes any salad appealing for fussy eaters. What I like about this salad is that is can easily be enjoyed as a light meal or for picnics. Easy to make for potluck parties.
WHAT IS QUINOA?
Quinoa (pronounced as keenwah) is not grain but edible seeds which have originated from the Andean region. Quinoa can be white, red and black. It is also possible to buy the tricolour quinoa. Whenever available, I prefer to use that for salads. Rich in protein, half cup of uncooked quinoa has 8g of it. Quinoa is ideal as a protein source for vegetarians, because it contains all the essential amino acids (protein building blocks) that the body needs. The only other plant that has that unique quality is soy. It is also a rich source of thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, zinc, potassium, magnesium and selenium. Along with that it provides 15% of the daily iron requirement.Easy to cook, quinoa is gluten free.
QUINOA IS VERSATILE
- Use it in place of rice with dals, curries, sabjis.
- Replace the rice to make pulao.
- Add cooked quinoa to salads.
- Enjoy it for breakfast as a pudding topped with fruits.
SOME QUINOA RECIPES FROM MY BLOG
SHARING QUINOA TANGERINE SALAD RECIPE WITH SUNDAY FUNDAY
By the way, Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in.
THEME: QUINOA
Renu, who blogs at Cook With Renu, suggested that we prepare any dish where the star ingredient is quinoa. The theme reminded me of a very old recipe on my blog which seriously required an update. So instead of making something new, decided to give Quinoa Tangerine Salad a complete overhaul. As you read along, you will understand why I had to do that.
This recipe was first published on 11/09/2013. Updated on 29/05/2022
WHY RINSE QUINOA?
There are many recipes that don’t mention rinsing quinoa. However, it is best to rinse quinoa before cooking. Quinoa naturally has very thin bitter coating called saponin. If you cook it without rinsing, then the quinoa will taste slightly bitter. Some quinoa packets indicate whether it is rinsed or not. Put the quinoa in a fine meshed sieve and rinse. Best to rinse it under the tap water, gently rubbing the quinoa between your fingers.
TWO WAYS TO COOK QUINOA
FIRST METHOD
Heat some oil in a pan. Roast the quinoa. Then add water or stock and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower, the heat and cook till done. Takes about 15-20 minutes. You know it is done when ‘tail’ appear around the seed. When done, fluff up the quinoa using a fork.
SECOND METHOD
Add rinsed quinoa and water/stock with salt to a saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower, the heat and cook till done. Takes about 15-20 minutes. You know it is done when ‘tail’ appear around the seed. When done, fluff up the quinoa using a fork.
For every cup of uncooked quinoa you need 2 cups of water or liquid.
Quinoa can be cooked in the microwave but I’ve not tried it as yet.
MEMORIES
Our local cable TV keeps on showing repeated old episodes of Rachael Ray Show. In one of the episodes she cooked quinoa salad with chicken and I knew I had try out this interesting new grain. But it was not easily available in the supermarkets back then. During a trip to Nairobi, I picked up a small packet from Healthy U. Pricey, compared to millet, rice, etc but I had to try it.
Can’t remember how many trips we’ve made to Nairobi to get our Super Visa for Canada! The wait at the medical centre for health tests was the worst. We were there from 8a.m. to 5p.m.! And the building is so basic that the cold air came in through the doors and winters. I thought we’re definitely going to catch a cold, but luckily we didn’t.
Cooked about a cup of quinoa following instructions on the packet, added some tangerine which hubby’s patient had given us, and lots of them! Added a bit of mint, lemon juice and made my first quinoa salad. Hubby commented that it required more flavour. Being my first exciting moment of cooking and tasting quinoa, the recipe was published on my blog. That is way back in 2013!
Since then this recipe has had so many additions to turn it into a light meal. Especially handy when it gets too hot in my kitchen to cook elaborate meals during the hot season.
My first trip to Canada and came back with some quinoa. It was also the first time I got to know that besides white, quinoa can be red or black.
CHECK OUT SOME MORE QUINOA RECIPES FROM SUNDAY FUNDAY GROUP
- Quinoa Chia Multiseed Bread from Cook with Renu
- Rustic Multigrain Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Vegetable Quinoa Upma from Sneha’s Recipe
- Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
- Copycat Trader Joe’s Lemon Chicken and Arugula Salad from Palatable Pastime
- Quinoa Tangerine Salad from Mayuri’s Jikoni
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED FOR QUINOA TANGERINE SALAD
-
-
- Quinoa – use white, red, black or tri coloured one. Rinse the quinoa in a sieve to remove the bitter coating saponin.
- Chickpeas – cooked. Use canned or dried ones. If you use dried ones, soak them overnight in warm water. Next day cook them in enough water and salt till done.
- Onion – peeled and finely chopped. Use red, white or yellow one.
- Pomegranate arils – can replace them with grapes if you want.
- Tangerines – peel, remove the white fibre and slice or chop. Can replace them with clementines or oranges.
- Almonds – slightly toasted and chopped. Can replace them with any other nuts of your choice. Or omit them.
- Dried Cranberries – can replace them with raisins, sultanas, dried blueberries, etc.
- Cucumber – I prefer using English Cucumber. Slice or chop.
- Salad Leaves – use any of your choice. I like adding arugula or baby spinach.
- Mint Leaves – fresh mint leaves, adds so much flavour to the salad.
- Salt – use normal table salt, sea salt or rock salt. Need it for the quinoa and the dressing.
- Water/ Stock – to cook the quinoa.
- Pepper Powder – for the salad dressing.
- Lemon Juice – for the salad dressing.
- Olive oil – for the salad dressing. I prefer the flavour of olive oil for salad dressings. Can use any of your choice.
- Garlic – need one clove only. Peel and minced. Don’t add too much as you don’t want the overpowering taste of garlic.
- Za’atar – adds so much flavour. I have used ready made za’atar mixture. If you don’t have any, replace it any dried herb mixture.
- Maple Syrup – optional. We prefer the tangy flavour of this salad so I don’t add any. Also the sweetness from the tangerines is enough. Can use honey or sugar instead.
-
WATCH HOW TO MAKE QUINOA TANGERINE SALAD
QUINOA TANGERINE SALAD
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD:
- ½ cup quinoa uncooked
- 1 cup chickpeas cooked
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- 2-3 tangerines peeled
- ¼ cup almonds toasted and cut into pieces
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pomegranate aril
- 1 medium cucumber sliced
- 1 cup salad leaves baby spinach
- 10-12 mint leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup water/stock
FOR THE LEMON ZA'ATAR DRESSING:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tbsp za'atar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- 1 tsp maple syrup optional
Instructions
PREPARE THE LEMON ZA'ATAR DRESSING:
- Add lemon juice to a small mixing bowl.
- Add salt and whisk till the salt dissolves.
- Add olive oil and whisk till is becomes creamy.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic.
- Let the onion marinate till the quinoa gets cooked.
- Just before adding the dressing to the salad, add za'atar, pepper and maple syrup if using any.
- Mix well.
COOK THE QUINOA:
- Rinse the quinoa just the way you do for rice. Rub it gently between your fingers to remove the coating that may be on it. The coating makes it taste bitter.
- Add water/stock and salt to a pan. Add the rinsed quinoa.
- Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and cover the pan. Let the quinoa simmer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, switch off the heat. Let the quinoa stand in the pan, covered for a further 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes remove the quinoa into a serving dish or sieve.
- Fluff it up using a fork.
- Allow the quinoa to cool down.
- In the meantime get the other salad ingredients ready.
PREPARATION OF THE SALAD:
- Peel the tangerines. Remove all the fibres. Slice them into rounds or chop into quarters.
- Slice or chop the cucumber.
- Toast the almonds in a wide pan over low heat or in the microwave oven for 1-2 minutes.
- When the quinoa becomes cold, add it a mixing bowl.
- Add the almonds, cranberries, chickpeas,pomegranate, mint and chopped salad greens.
- Add the dressing. Mix well.
- Add the tangerine slices and gently mix.
- Serve the salad as a side or as a light meal.
Notes
- Cooked quinoa stays in the fridge for a day or two but make sure you store it covered.
- The rule of the thumb is that for every 1 part of quinoa you need 2 parts of water.
- ½ cup of uncooked quinoa gives about 1 cup of cooked quinoa.
- Can replace chickpeas with beans, fish, chicken, tofu, paneer, etc
- Add a dressing of your choice.
- Replace the cranberries with raisins or sultanas.
- Use any quinoa of your choice, white, red, black or tricolour one.
- Can replace tangerine with clementines or oranges.
PIN FOR LATER:
A LITTLE REQUEST:
If you do try this recipe then please either
add a comment below,
send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962