A Life, Lived: Moroccan Quinoa Salad

August 25, 2010

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

The other day Paul came home with a recipe cut out of the Metro paper, the rag he reads on the bus to work. This was a first for him. The recipe was for a Moroccan Quinoa Salad.

Metro wrote:

We’ve been bowled over by the popularity of our Moroccan Quinoa Salad. Maybe that’s because quinoa is the grain du jour, and no wonder: It’s incredibly versatile, easy to make (it’s cooked like rice) and is so healthy — it’s full of protein, vitamins and minerals.

I can see why Paul waned to try it . . . the salad sounded wonderful.

He whipped it up on Sunday and we discovered that there was a reason why this was the most popular recipe on the Metro news site - this was amazing! It does make a large salad so if you don't want to eat it for a week you might want to cut it in half. We didn't but we sure were happy for the delicious leftovers!

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dried)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1-1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed
1-1/2 cup corn kernels (about 2 cobs) or defrosted frozen
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped green or black olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

Cook quinoa, according to package instructions. While quinoa is cooking, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and sugar into a vinaigrette in a small bowl.

Combine quinoa and all remaining ingredients, except fresh herbs, into a medium-sized bowl.

Drizzle with vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavours to combine. Add fresh herbs just prior to serving. May be served at room temperature.