Quinoa Avocado Salad

I’ve got some catching up to do with my blog, sorry! I’ve got a bunch of recipes piling up. I’ll post about a salad I made a few weeks ago. It was easy to make, very healthy and delicious. Try to find red quinoa if you’re going to make it, it was lovely – but regular quinoa is fine too. It’s from Fine Cooking, but I found it via The Kitchn. The dressing was good, though I’d say there wasn’t quite enough in that recipe for the whole salad. Not that it needs much dressing, really, the ingredients are fresh and bright alone. As always, I served the salad with only one avocado at first, then used the second one when serving the leftovers.

Note that I didn’t rinse the quinoa: none of the sieves and strainers I had was fine enough for the job, surprisingly. You can omit the almonds if you want, too, or replace them with other nuts.

3 Tbsp raisins (preferably a mix of dark and golden)
2 Tbsp dried apricots, thinly sliced
1 cup red or white quinoa, rinsed well
Kosher salt
1 large lemon
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp sweet paprika
2 medium firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz. each), pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 medium scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2 to 3 Tbsp coarsely chopped toasted almonds (optional)
freshly ground black pepper



In a medium bowl, soak the raisins and apricots in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.



In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups water, the quinoa, and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (The outer germ rings of the grain will remain chewy and white. Some germ rings may separate from the grain and will look like white squiggles.)



Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn it out onto a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.




Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then squeeze 1 Tbsp juice (or more).



In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, coriander, cumin, paprika, and 1/4 tsp. salt.




In a large bowl, toss the vinaigrette with the quinoa, raisins, apricots, avocado, scallions, and almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.