Author Notes
Crispy-sweet Fuji apples are long keepers, and they add a marvelous crunch to winter salads. I buy a basket every week at our local farmers market. In this recipe they join forces with quinoa, fresh mandarin orange segments, toasted walnuts, and crystallized ginger. Satsuma oranges are terrific during their short market season. An orange or tangerine flavored balsamic contributes rich flavor. —AppleAnnie
Ingredients
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1 cup
quinoa, uncooked
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1 tablespoon
sour cream
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2 tablespoons
walnut oil
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1-1/2 tablespoons
excellent balsamic vinegar (orange or tangerine flavored if possible)
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1 tablespoon
crystallized ginger (in bite sized chunks)
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1
seedless, easy-peel mandarin type orange (Satsuma, mandarin, Clementine)
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grated zest from the orange
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1/2 cup
walnuts (pieces or halves)
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2
crisp apples
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1 tablespoon
chopped parsley
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romaine or other leaf lettuce
Directions
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Cook the quinoa, (I often use 1 cup water and 1 cup chicken stock, with 1 teaspoon salt)
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Grate the zest from the orange. Separate the orange sections, removing all pith and skin
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While the cooked quinoa is still warm, stir in the sour cream, walnut oil, balsamic, crystallized ginger, and orange zest. Refrigerate.
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Toast walnuts at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Let cool briefly
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Leaving skin on, remove core from both apples. Chop one apple into bite-sized chunks. Cut the other into thin slices.
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Add the apple chunks, orange sections, walnut pieces, and parsley to the quinoa. Stir to blend.
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Serve the apple-quinoa salad on a bed of crisp lettuce leaves. Arrange apple slices decoratively around the quinoa.
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