Quinoa Salad with Apples and Dried Cherries
Chock-full of apples and dried cherries, this salad captures the essence of autumn. When cooking quinoa, you generally use a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa, but cut back slightly on the water here because the quinoa already has some liquid in it after rinsing.
Ingredients
For the tahini dressing:
- 1 cup (10 oz./315 g) tahini
- Juice of 2 lemons, plus more, to taste
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup (1/3 oz./10 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz./60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml) water, or as needed
- Fine sea salt
2 cups (1 lb./500 g) quinoa (red, white or black)- 2 scant cups (32 fl. oz./1 l) water or vegetable stock
- Fine sea salt
- 2 Honeycrisp apples
- 1/2 cup (2 oz./60 g) dried pitted cherries
- 2 heads frisée, torn into large pieces
Directions
To make the dressing, in a food processor, combine the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and olive oil and process until blended. With the motor running, slowly pour in the water, adding only as much as needed to create a dressing thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Adjust the seasoning with salt and more lemon juice, if needed. Set aside.
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve and then drain.
In a saucepan over high heat, combine the quinoa, water and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the grains are cooked but have a slight bite and all of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and toss with about a third of the dressing. Set aside.
Quarter each apple and cut out the core. Cut the quarters into thin slices lengthwise. If not using immediately, hold the apples in water with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent oxidization; drain the apples before adding them to the salad.
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, apples, cherries and then the frisée. Drizzle with a little more dressing and toss to coat. Adjust the seasoning with salt and serve. Serves 8.
Adapted from a recipe by Haven’s Kitchen, New York City