Excerpted from Dinner Solved!: 100 Ingenious Recipes That Make the Whole Family Happy, Including You! By Katie Workman. Workman Publishing © 2015
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt, plus more to taste
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 3/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 3 scallions, white and light green parts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 cups baby kale (preferable) or torn, stemmed kale leaves
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup dried cherries
Directions
1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot over high heat. Add the salt and stir in the quinoa. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until all of the water is absorbed, 15 minutes.
2. You can continue with Step 3 or see the Fork in the Road if you’d like to leave some of the grains plain.
3. Meanwhile, place the parsley, mint, and scallions in a food processor or blender and process until finely chopped.Add the kale and pulse until the kale is roughly chopped. Transfer the mixture to a large serving bowl.
4. When the quinoa is cooked (it will yield about 3 cups), add it to the bowl with the greens and stir to combine.
5. Drizzle over the lemon juice and olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss. Let cool to room temperature.
6. Mix in the dried cherries and serve.
Variations
Add some grilled chicken or grilled shrimp for a non-veggie salad. You can also add other dried fruit, such ascranberries or chopped dried apricots, or tossin other herbs, and maybe some chopped olives or shredded orcrumbled cheese—this is a very fluid recipe.