March 28, 2017
This recipe is from "Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods," by Cynthia Lair.
First up: this salad, which comes together in a flash once you've cooked some quinoa. This is the kind of salad that will still be good the day after you make it. In fact, it might even be better.
First, rinse off your quinoa. Don't skip this! Quinoa is naturally coated with a bitter-tasting compound that you want to wash away.
After you've rinsed it, place the quinoa in a 2-quart pot with the salt and water, and bring it to a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. You can check to see if it's done by tipping the pot to the side by about 45 degrees. If you still see water, it needs to simmer longer. If you don't see any, all the water is absorbed, and it's done.
When the quinoa is done, let it stand for 5-10 minutes without a cover, and then fluff it with a fork. Now dump the quinoa into a large bowl, and throw in the carrots, parsley, and sunflower seeds.
Mix it up well.
While the quinoa is cooking, you can combine the dressing ingredients. (An easy way to do it: shake them all up in a mason jar.)
Pour the dressing over the quinoa mixture and toss well.
You can serve the salad warm, at room temperature or chilled. It's great out of the fridge the next day too.