Friday, April 1, 2011

FFwD - Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad


This week for French Fridays with Dorie, I had to confront one of my biggest dislikes - salady salad.  I like coleslaw, potato salad, and any salad featuring chunks of roasted pumpkin, but anything remotely rabbit-like immediately turns me off. This salad featured quinoa, which I have never used before.

Quinoa at my supermarket was mega expensive - almost $7 for a a 500g bag.  However, in the name of food adventurism, I bought it.  There was only red and black quinoa available, with the ordinary variety having sold out.  To save money on assorted nuts, dried fruits and seeds (which are also not cheap), I bought trail mix, which is nuts, dried fruits and seeds all in one.  The only drawback with trail mix is you have to have what you get - there is no picking and choosing the combination of its contents.

I piled my quinoa salad on top of baby spinach for salad greens, and topped it with Greek yoghurt, as suggested by Dorie.



To my taste, this salad was much better the second day.  On day one, this tasted way too bland - in fact, it was just like I imagine chowing down on grass seeds would be like.  However, it definitely improved after that, to a point where I thought it was OK - but definitely not one I'd make again.

To see what other people thought of this salad, visit the LYL section on the FFwD website. 

17 comments:

Flourchild said...

Chowing down on grass seeds...ha ha!! Your so funny! Im glad you tried it at least...Im going to pass this one up.

Cher Rockwell said...

Sorry this wasn't a hit for you. I just served my as a side (minus the rabbit food) and liked it. This was definitely better on day 2 - love the Inca Red Quinoa, though. It all looked pretty!

Anonymous said...

Am so jealous you were able to get the red version. It was a dollar more here but I couldn't justify the cost because I've never eaten quinoa.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Haha "anything remotely rabbity". I do know what you mean. I personally love salad with a really good dressing to help de rabbit it!

Johanna GGG said...

a salady salad sounds like a dish to be shunned :-) but maybe everyone needs to know how it feels to eat grass seed :-)

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

I feel your pain at 'salady salads'! I've had quinoa once in a while, but have never been so convinced by it as to make a feature of it. Can't say this salad convinces me either!

tricia s. said...

Nana felt your pain on this one. I liked it more than she did but have to say that I also needed to find Brown Bag lunch items that I could take to work...which also fit in the category of easy, cheap,healthy...you get the picture :)This was the first time either of us cooking with quinoa and I am very curious to try many more recipes. And Nana told me she is game :)

Candy (Dulce) said...

Loved your post. I agree. I'd probably rather just eat the rail mix! But good for you for trying it, and making me laugh!

Trevor Sis Boom said...

Rabbitty? lol. Check out my page for some links to other good, less rabbitty ways to make your leftover quinoa.

Adriana said...

My husband called it 'bird food'! That's close enough to rabbit. I enjoyed this, but then again, I like salady salads and added chicken.

Anonymous said...

I love quinoa and cook it all the time but this salad is something I don't think I'll be making again. So far its the first FFwD recipe I'm not crazy about so its ok, it was bound to happen!

Cakelaw said...

@ Sis.Boom - will definitely check those links out because I have half a packet left ...

Anonymous said...

It looks lovely! I like salads a lot, but I have to be in the right mood to mix sweet and savory.

Elaine said...

I'm sorry you didn't like this one, but this is a salad some liked and others didn't. I want to explore different recipes for this seed as it was interesting to read that other FFwD had it with fresh fruit, as a breakfast cereal as well as a main dish. It sounds like t's such a healthy and versatile seed that you could reap its benefits without making it as a salad.

TheGourmetCoffeeGuy said...

We tried this recipe for lunch and it turned out great. The quinoa had a great "fruity" taste without being overwhelming. We added grilled chicken to it. Very colorful dish, nice presentation and quite filling. We like quinoa prepared in different ways, serving it as a salad was a new innovative way our family and some friends enjoyed very much. Thank you for sharing.

Kayte said...

Kudos to you for trying it. I haven't gotten to it yet, but I will as I love all the ingredients and I am the Salad Queen...yes, I am! Inspired and great idea to use that trail mix...going to remember that tip! It all looks wonderful to me!

Betsy said...

I have to say that I'm the opposite. Salads are one of my most favorite foods. This one has so many possibilities. Sorry it wasn't your favoite...