Kids Dish

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a quick cooking, protein packed whole grain. I called it a grain, but it’s actually the fruit of an herb that’s cooked like a grain, making it a good substitute for rice or couscous. What makes quinoa especially good for you is that it’s a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids. Complete proteins are essential for vegetarians, especially vegans, and children like mine who treat most meat like it’s poison.

Though you can buy it in bulk at a health food store, I prefer to buy prepackaged quinoa because most of the work has been done for you. That means you only have to rinse it once before cooking, not the five times recommended in many quinoa recipes. I usually make a quinoa pilaf, similar to rice pilaf, but I saw a few recipes for different quinoa salads that piqued my interest but were a bit too labor intensive. So I scaled them down, switched a few ingredients and came up with this.

Curried Quinoa Salad

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons peanut oil (substitute vegetable oil if you don’t have peanut)
1 cup quinoa
1 firm-ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks (2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 fresh jalapeño seeded and minced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup salted cashews, chopped

Prepare quinoa according to package directions.

Whisk together yogurt, lime juice and zest, curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined.

Toss quinoa with yogurt mixture and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. This can be served warm or at room temperature, but I think it’s better cold.

quinoa recipe, vegetarian recipe, vegan recipe