recipes


Quinoa and Parsley Salad with Currants
Active time: 20 minutes
Start to finish (including cooling time): 1 hour

Quinoa is the current darling of the Passover kitchen. It can take many forms, and here it stars in a simple salad. The parsley—a springtime ingredient often served on the seder plate—makes a surprising replacement for more expected greens.

2 cups quinoa
3 cups curly parsley leaves, rinsed, dried and very roughly chopped
1 yellow or orange pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper, plus more for seasoning

Wash quinoa cold water three to four times, draining each time before changing water. Cook quinoa in a 4-quart pot of well-salted boiling water until partially cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve. Heat 1 inch water in the same pot until simmering, then place quinoa over pot. Cover with a clean towel and steam for 10 minutes, until quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork, then let cool. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add to quinoa along with parsley leaves, currants and diced. Toss to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

(Yield: about 8 cups)


Recipe © 2010 Adeena Sussman