curried quinoa chicken salad

Simple. Fast. And sort of addictive. This is the perfect lunch or light supper. Easy to make a batch and keep in the fridge, then pack to take for lunches at work (Jonathon?) Eden had some and figured she needed to eat it daily. I pretty much agree.

The 2 Tbsp of curry powder is not a typo and is in no way a mistake - go for it. Use walnuts if you prefer them to the pecans (I'm allergic so I always use pecans). If you don't like cilantro use parsley. I have given up peeling ginger (unless all I can find at the market is kind of old and tough looking) - nobody complains or even notices. I figure there has to be good stuff in the skin so why peel it off?

When we had this salad for supper one night I served it on a bed of mixed greens. When I took it for a lunch a couple of days later I skipped the greens and it was absolutely as good - just different. Either way. Choice is good, right?

curried quinoa chicken salad

(from 20 minute supper club, tweaked)

2 cups quinoa, cooked

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

3/4 cup thinly sliced dried apricots

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp curry powder

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tsp sea salt

1/3 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Combine the quinoa, chicken, apricots, green onions, pecans, and cilantro in a bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk together the curry powder, vinegar, sea salt, olive oil, and freshly grated ginger. Drizzle over the quinoa mixture and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: if you aren't sure how to cook the quinoa you have two choices. You can cook it in a large pot of boiling water - a la pasta - and drain when it is just tender. Or you can bring 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa (in this case 4 cups water, 2 cups quinoa) to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off but leave the pot on the burner - still covered - for another 4 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff with a fork. Done.