Quinoa Salad with Mangoes and Curry Vinaigrette

I really never make quinoa, but I’ll eat it if it’s in an edible dish. That’s how you know this is another Yumi recipe.

From my point of view, quinoa is tasteless, boring, and doesn’t really do much. Kind of like that one coworker you’d like to punch in the face. But Yumi found a winner here. The mango and dressing make the dish, rendering an unpalatable food delicious.

The recipe is from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone [but Karl] by Deborah Madison.

Note that quinoa, in itself, is gluten-free, but it is often processed with other grains that have gluten. So, depending on the manufacturing process, your quinoa may have trace amounts of gluten.

 What you’ll need for the salad:

• Salt
• 1.33 cups quinoa, rinsed
• 2 large mangoes, skinned and cut into 0.5-0.75-inch pieces
• 1 hot chili of your choice (about jalapeño-hot is best), seeded and diced
• 3 scallions or green onions, thinly sliced (use about an inch of the green, too)
• 0.33 cups roasted almonds, or a nut that won’t send you into anaphylactic shock

For the dressing:

• 1 clove garlic
• Big pinch of salt
• 2T unflavored yogurt, mayo or sour cream (do NOT use the culinary abomination known as Miracle Whip!)
• 2t curry powder
• 1.5T lemon juice
• 5T light olive oil or sunflower oil
• 2T fine-chopped cilantro

What to do for the dressing:

Mince the garlic or run it through a garlic press.

Combine the garlic, salt, yogurt and curry in a small bowl. Stir in the lemon juice, and then whisk in the oil.

Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes have passed, stir in the cilantro. Set aside.

Meanwhile begin heating 3 cups of water in a saucepan for cooking the quinoa. When the water starts boiling, add 0.5t salt, along with the quinoa. Lower the heat and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender. Drain the excess water.

 Return the quinoa to the saucepan, but keep it off the heat. Add the mangos, scallions, chili and dressing. Mix thoroughly. Add the nuts and mix in just before serving.