A Colorful Quinoa Salad You'll Crave All Summer

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quinoa-salad copyPhoto: Courtesy of Foodie Underground.
The arrival of summer means the arrival of bags of mixed salad greens at farmers market, or of course, your own from your garden. Instead of basing salad recipes off of them though, I like to throw them in as an extra addition to whatever I am making, a complement to the rest of the dish. That’s exactly what they are in this quinoa salad recipe.

Using both red and white quinoa, you get a colorful salad that is full of omega 3s and hearty enough that you can eat it as the main dish. The dates and currants give it a sweeter flavor, which is perfect for warmer weather and a meal outside.

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Summer Carrot And Date Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup white quinoa
1/2 cup red quinoa
3 large carrots, chopped
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup currants
Mixed salad greens

Basil And Mustard Citrus Vinaigrette

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil (depending on how much basil flavor you want)

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Instructions

1. Prepare the quinoa. Place in saucepan with 2 cups of water and a pinch of sea salt and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer until water has cooked off, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large salad bowl combine chopped carrots, dates and currants.

3. To make the dressing, combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar and orange juice in a small jar or bowl. Add in mustard and whisk until well-blended. Stir in basil.

4. Mix in quinoa with rest of salad ingredients, and top with dressing. Toss together. Before serving, add in a couple of handfuls of mixed salad greens.
Foodie Underground, a project curated in part by Anna Brones, explores our relationship with the origin of our eats. Motivated by an unwavering belief that food should never be complicated or pretentious, Anna — author of vegetarian and GF primer The Culinary Cyclist, is serving up everything from the best veggie BBQ to a beginner's guide to pesto. Hungry yet?

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