Quinoa and Carrot Salad with Honeyed Yogurt Dressing


Since May is National salad month I've been posting different way to celebrate this great event. The Kale and Tomato Salad, the Green Salad, and the Soba Noddle Salad. Salads are actually categorized into several types, for example a starter, a main, raw veggies, cold ingredients, nuts, fruits and seeds, etc.

Finishing up leftovers is always a challenge for me. I had some extra quinoa from Saturday night and was debating whether I should go savory or sweet. After leafing through the cookbook "Everyday Quinoa", I decided upon this salad which is a little bit of both. The dressing is a bit tangy from the Greek yogurt, but is sweetened with local honey. The cardamom, cumin and curry add an exotic flavor and are whisked along with the lemon juice and red wine vinegar for the acids. The base of the salad is the quinoa and carrots which are coarsely grated and then mixed with dried fruit and herbs. This is a beautiful and tasty salad.

Ingredients:

For salad:

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup sliced roasted almonds
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 medium carrots (coarsely grated)
1/4 red onion (cut very thin)
2 scallions (thinly sliced)
1 long red chili (de-seeded and chopped)
1/2 flat leaf parsley (chopped)
1/4 cup fresh mint (chopped)

For dressing:

6 cardamom pods
1 cup Greek plain yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon (juiced)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teraspoons curry powder,
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare:

To Make dressing:

Break open cardamon pods in a mortar and pestle, then grind seeds to a fine powder.


In a small bowl add the cardamom and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Place quinoa in a large bowl with the carrots, raisins, cranberries, onions, scallions, chili, parsley and mint. Mix well.


Add a couple of spoonfuls of dressing and serve the rest on the side. Garnish with a few almonds and sprigs of parsley.

This recipe has been slightly adapted from "Everyday Quinoa", by Rena Patten.

Comments

  1. I am just loving all your creative salad recipes! I love a good salad for lunch and for dinner it makes it easy to add a meat entree for my husband (unless it is seafood and then I may partake) and maybe an additional vegetable and we are both happy : )

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    1. Hi Mindy, I completely understand my husband is such a carnivore. He loves anything that revolves around meat. A lot of times I fix 1 meal 2 variations.

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  2. I love the colors in this salad. Great use of the quinoa. I think this is going in my must make recipes list.

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    1. Hi Marlene, more color the better for us right, but in this case it taste good too!

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  3. This sounds wonderful. I love all the fresh flavors in both the salad and the dressing!

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    1. Thanks Chris, quite a compliment coming from you. Quinoa is so versatile.

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  4. Such a healthy, hearty salad for spring! It looks delicious, Cheri.

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  5. This sounds absolutely delicious. It's both simple and complex at the same time. Beautiful!

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  6. Gorgeous salad colours! It is a great way to use up leftovers!

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  7. Looks so delicious - great flavours in such a healthy dish. Think I've just emailed you by the way, when I meant to add a comment. Ignore it!

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    1. Hi Andrea, received the email, so thoughtful, thank you!

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  8. This too looks and sounds fantastic!
    It is beyond me why I don't get your posts..
    Thank goodness I come and peek!

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  9. You have caught my heart with this salad. I love everything about it.

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    1. Thanks Maureen, what a wonderful thing to say. It is a great salad.

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  10. I know I've this already but I'm going to say it again nonetheless: Cheri you make the most wonderful dressings ever. You should totally write a cookbook all dressings.
    And, of course, the salad looks amazing as well! ;)

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    1. Hi Mike, that is the nicest thing anyone has said, thank you! I am a big salad person.

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  11. What a cool melange. Happy salad month to you!

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  12. What a cool melange... happy salad month to you!

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    1. Hi Della, you must have hit the button twice, salads are the best this time of year.

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  13. as salads go, this one offers quite a bit of variety in color and texture! it's so healthful too--bravo!

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    1. Thanks Grace....coming from you that's a real compliment.

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  14. Love this, Cheri! Such a great lineup of ingredients that I can imagine the flavours are quite unique. You've got salad making down to a fine art!

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  15. I love carrot salads! This looks so delicious with the quinoa and that yummy yoghurt dressing and all those spices! I can't wait to cook up some quinoa this weekend and make my lunches for next week :)

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    1. Hi Amy, this is a great salad, the thing about this is that this would be good any time of the year.

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  16. I love carrot salads! This looks so delicious with the quinoa and that yummy yoghurt dressing and all those spices! I can't wait to cook up some quinoa this weekend and make my lunches for next week :)

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    1. Hi Amy, think this is a duplicate, thank you for being so thoughtful.

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  17. Yum! That looks so fresh and healthy. Love the addition of honey yogurt dressing, that sounds delish. :)

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  18. Looks so flavorful! And I totally didn't know that May was National Salad Month :)

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    1. Hi Sweetphi,amazing isn't it. I did not know either. But hey we celebrate anything now.

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  19. What a lively salad that's full of amazing colours and flavour! This is a must-try. Thanks for sharing!

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

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  20. The cardamom in the salad dressing sounds wonderfully warming :)

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    1. Hi Tandy, you know now that you mention it, it is warming.

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  21. You did it!...you turned leftovers into a fantastic dish!

    ela
    Gray Apron

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  22. Hi Cheri,
    I like your colourful and delicious salad!
    So healthy, very beautiful dessing as well!
    Thank you for sharing
    Chantal

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  23. The salad looks so colourful and packed full of goodness and flavours. Have to try your yogurt dressing soon.

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  24. Hurray for national salad month! This dressing sounds delish!

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    1. Hi Natalie, yea! never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago myself.

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  25. I am always looking for salads which are substantial enough to make a meal out of, and also since it's verging on winter in my part of the world a salad which is robust enough for this time of the year. This ticks all the boxes for me, and I know I could make extras of this to take to work for lunch the next day. Delicious - can't wait to try it.

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    1. Summer is on it's way here, so interesting our climates are so different, makes sense. Thank you stopping by, nice compliment!

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  26. Love the combo of fruits and veggies in this. I'd surely be happy to have it on my dinner table!

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    1. Hi Abbe, hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

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  27. Love the flavors in this salad! Gorgeous combinations!

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  28. Real cardamom pods! You're so mature. This looks great Cheri!

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    1. Hi Karen, I was wondering if you saw this, cardamom is your favorite. Thanks!

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  29. Sounds wonderful - fresh, healthy and tasty.

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  30. This looks great - so bright and colorful. And I love cardamom. Yum!

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