Quinoa Salad (Easy)

Yet again, another Rachael Ray recipe that I love! Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, is a whole grain with naturally high protein, is gluten-free; and it is a great substitute for pasta. Quinoa comes in two colors white and red, I prefer the red, this recipe calls for the red but the local stores by my house were out of it. I do love the red, there is a difference in taste to me. Quinoa when prepared is 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of liquid. I prefer to use chicken broth to cook mine in and also a rice cooker. It comes out perfect every time! This quinoa salad is a great side to any meal and with this salad you serve it cold so you can prepare it ahead of time, say for example, the night before or that morning you want to serve it for that evening. You will save even more time when it comes to making dinner because you will have already made this salad ahead of time. It is also great for taking the leftovers with you to work for lunch the next day and no need to warm up, serve cold. This recipe serves 6-8 if you do not double it, I double it. Oh and one more thing I forgot to mention, this is great to take to a potluck.

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1962

Ingredients

1 cup red quinoa (I had to use the white this time around due to stores being sold out)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth
2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
2 tablespoons lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (I have always used balsamic vinegar, love it)
2 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup plain, chopped almonds, toasted (I buy the sliced almonds and use those instead)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (I have always used feta cheese, never tried goat cheese)

Preparation

Cook quinoa according to package directions, using the stock or broth instead of water.  Once cooked, put quinoa into a bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature.  Toss with oil and vinegar or lemon juice.  Add scallions, almonds, cranberries and cheese.  Serve as a side dish or as a main course with a salad.

I use the fast-cooking kind, it is ready to cook, pre-rinsed, and oh so easy to prepare in a rice cooker. This brand also carries the red quinoa. I really love the red!

I do not have to rinse this quinoa first and this is what it looks like in my rice cooker before I add the chicken broth. I use the entire box for one meal and I double my recipe. One box is 2 cups of quinoa and needs 4 cups of broth to cook.

My broth of choice, I like that it has no MSG added.

The oil and vinegar dressing I use to toss the quinoa with.

My mix-ins for the salad. I use the entire container of feta cheese because I use 2 cups of quinoa instead of one and I use 1 cup of dried cranberries as well as about 5 green onions and 1 cup of the sliced almonds. This way of doing this recipe makes more than 8 servings, that is why I encourage you to eat it for lunch the next day for leftovers.

Quinoa salad.