In efforts to eat some of the food out of my pantry before adding more to it - Hi, I’m Michelle and I’m a compulsive grocery shopper – I came across a box of red quinoa sitting quietly behind some almonds and chocolate chips. I put 1/2 a cup into a bowl of water and soaked overnight. The next morning I rinsed and put in a strainer over a bowl and covered the strainer and waited for the cute little quinoa tales to emerge.
I’ve sprouted quinoa before and used it to make a tabouleh type salad. But, tomato season is sadly coming to an end and I’m not a fan of bland tomatoes in a dish that features them. So, I modified a recipe I copied down from Raw Food, Real World and came up with this:
Quinoa Grape Salad
- 1/2 cup quinoa, soaked and sprouted
- 2 Tb lime juice
- 1 Tb macadamia nut oil
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- salt to taste
- 3/4 c chopped grapes
- 3/4 c chopped celery
- 1/3 c chopped cilantro
- 1 green onion, diced
Mix quinoa – salt together and let sit at least an hour. Add in remaining ingredients and let sit another hour for optimum flavor.
This could probably serve two, but I ate it all in one sitting. It was different and delicious. I loved the sweet grapes contrasting with the salty dressing, the crunchy celery and the fresh addition of cilantro. It is a recipe I’ll be making again soon.
Awesome. I have all ingredients sans red quinoa and macadamia nut oil. I have regular quinoa though.
To sprout the quinoa – how long do you wait? Also, do you totally drain the water and wait for them to sprout?
I am also a compulsive shopper. It’s getting better now that I buy my fruit and vegetables from a fruit and veggie shop because I don’t go to the grocery store so much.
I soak the quinoa over night and then rinse. After rinsing, I put the wet quinoa in a strainer and place over a bowl. I cover the strainer and wait about 4 hours. You’ll see little tails emerging from the grains when they sprout.
Aha. Thanks Michelle!