I first tasted this beautiful salad when it was prepared in a cooking class I attended. Full of texture and flavors, it’s perfect for a holiday menu. This guest recipe was developed by Chef AJ, my friend and colleague in plant-based, SOS-free cooking.
Chef AJ of Eat Unprocessed has followed a plant-based diet for over 36 years and is a chef and culinary instructor in Los Angeles. She is also the creator and co-producer of Healthy Taste of LA. You can watch Chef AJ make this recipe on her show, The Chef & the Dietician. (Thank you to Wendy at Healthy Girl’s Kitchen for the gorgeous photo.)
Quinoa Salad with Currants and Pistachios
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 to 8 (makes 8 cups)
Ingredients
- 2½ cups water
- 1¼ cups (8 ounces) uncooked quinoa
- ½ cup lime juice (about 3 large limes)
- 3 tablespoons lime zest (from the 3 limes above)
- 4 medium green onions (scallions), chopped
- 1 cup Italian parsley leaves, packed (1 ounce), finely chopped
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed (1 ounce), finely chopped
- 1 cup currants
- ½ cup raw, unsalted pistachios, whole or coarsely chopped
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds (when in season)
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa, place it in a medium saucepan along with the water. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes. After cooking, set the quinoa aside to cool. (The quinoa may also be cooked ahead of time so that it is completely cooled when you are ready to assemble the salad.)
- To zest the limes, use a Microplane or other small-toothed grater, and then juice the limes (it's much easier to zest any citrus before juicing it).
- Once the quinoa has cooled, place it into a large bowl and add all of the other ingredients, including lime juice and zest. Mix thoroughly. Serve immediately or chill to serve later.
Notes
If you do not have limes, orange juice and zest work well; raisins or chopped, dried cherries work well in place of currants; and chopped pecans work well in place of pistachios.
Quinoa comes in various colors: white/yellow, red, black, or a mix of all three. Any color works in this recipe; the multi-colored quinoa gives it even more visual appeal. To learn more about quinoa and see photos of the varieties, see my Holiday Quinoa Dressing recipe.
This is a great party or special occasion dish for 6 to 8 people. Double the recipe if you are serving a larger group.
Quinoa comes in various colors: white/yellow, red, black, or a mix of all three. Any color works in this recipe; the multi-colored quinoa gives it even more visual appeal. To learn more about quinoa and see photos of the varieties, see my Holiday Quinoa Dressing recipe.
This is a great party or special occasion dish for 6 to 8 people. Double the recipe if you are serving a larger group.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: ⅛ recipe (about 1 cup) Calories: 216 Fat: 5.5g Saturated fat: 0.7g Carbohydrates: 37.7g Sugar: 16.2g Sodium: 10mg Fiber: 5g Protein: 7g Cholesterol: 0
If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please share a comment below or on my Facebook page. If you’d like to print this recipe, use the green “Print” button near the top-right of the recipe. Learn more about the Straight Up Food Cookbook here. Thank you!
Any suggestion for nut allergies? Would sunflower seeds work well or should I just leave them out all together
Hi Andrea, I’d just leave them out or add some seeds of your choice. 🙂
I leave the nuts out when I eat it. Just make sure you use the pom seeds.
I’m always looking for new quinoa recipes. Thanks!
This is delicious! Next time, I’ll double it!
YAY!
I was a little skeptical, but the combination of textures and flavors is amazing!
So glad you liked it.
Are there any nutritional facts? I am a diabetic and would like carb count. First time on this great site but no nutritional info is provided.
Hi Janet, no, unfortunately I don’t calculate nutrients.
BTW, you may find this article as well as this article educational about diabetes and its causes and treatment. And this video by diabetes expert and doctor, Wes Youngberg. 🙂
This was SOOOOO good. I can’t wait to make it for my vegan (and non-vegan) friends and family. I really enjoy trying at least one new recipe of yours every week or two. And I’ve shared your blog with several of my friends.
Thanks Judy! 🙂 I love that recipe too, so unique!
I love this recipe!! I used crasins instead of currants and it was delicious. I just cook for myself so how long will the salad last in the fridge? I take some everyday for lunch.
It lasts at least 3 days but the nuts get soggy so I would add them right before eating.
This looks great. Can’t wait to try it out for my vegan daughter. She has MS and is trying a vegan, oil free diet to reduce symptoms. Your recipes look ideal. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Karen, Dr. McDougall has some good info about diet and MS on his site, if your daughter hasn’t seen it.
This is the most delicious quinoa salad I have ever tried; a veritable flavor explosion in the mouth. So good! Thank you for posting this.
so glad you loved it!
Love love love all your recipes and can’t wait to try this one of Chef AJ’s! For first time around I believe I will half it as I am making this for ME! Thanks again!
That’s a good idea Deb; it’s big! Thanks! 😉
So did you like it?
How far in advance of serving can I make this salad?
I’d say the day you’re going too serve it or night before. 🙂
Would it compromise the salad to add some lettuce to it?
I think it would be fine. But if you haven’t tried it as is, I highly recommend it. It’s one of my favorite salads and all types of eaters fall in love with it. It’s just one of those magical combinations. 🙂
I was asked to bring a green salad for Thanksgiving, but I really want to make this one-never tried it, but all of your recipes are good. I was just thinking I could accomplish both the request and my desire to make something different by adding lettuce. I’ll make the salad without and see how I feel about adding lettuce. Thanks so much. And Happy holiday.
Ah. I think it will be better w/o lettuce. But you might want to let the host know; or bring both. 😉
This was a big hit with a Christmas dinner crowd who are not even close to nutritarian, i.e huge prime rib was the center piece. I was put in charge of veggies to bring. Took a chance on this dish since I had not made it before yesterday/
Even so, the guests really liked this dish. I used multi-colored quinoa to give it some nice color. I read on the web that zante currants are not true currants, but they were a well received. I had to use frozen pomegranate seeds so they were not as full and color full as the picture.
A nice addition to my go to items.
Yay! 🙂 I love this dish! Such interesting flavors.
This seems like a lot of fresh herbs. When you say “1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed (1 ounce)”, is 1 ounce by weight? One cup is 8 ounces.
Hi Carol, this confusion arises out of the fact that there are “weight” ounces as well as “fluid” ounces. The 1 cup here is volume of leaves and the 1 ounce is the weight of the same amount of leaves. Both are right. You can learn more about this here if you like. 🙂
Delicious! I love Chef AJ’s salad recipe! Although, I have made this numerous times, I’m curious how it would taste with black beans as I am considering the recipe for a mexican feast. Have you tried it?