I was staring at all of the leftovers in my fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner when inspiration struck. A curried turkey and couscous salad sounded pretty good. As I was reaching for the couscous I noticed the quinoa and thought that it would work even better. While the quinoa was cooking I chopped up some vegetables and threw together a quick dressing. I even found some mint that needed to be used. The curried turkey and quinoa salad turned out to be pretty amazing! The dressing was flavourful and nicely balanced. The mint which almost didn’t make it into the salad, ended up being the star of the show making very bite refreshing. The crunchiness of the celery and the pecans went well with the tender quinoa and the chewy dried cranberries. This salad would likely do well without the turkey or with the turkey replaced by chicken. I have a feeling that I will be making this salad fairly often in the future.
Curried Turkey and Quinoa Salad
ingredients
- 2 cups water (or stock)
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup cooked turkey (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1 carrot (grated)
- 1 stalk celery (chopped)
- 1 green onion (chopped)
- 1 handful dried cranberries
- 1 handful cup pecans (or walnuts)
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon mint (chopped)
directions
- Bring the water and quinoa to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and cover for 5 minutes.
- Mix the turkey, carrots, celery, green onion, dried cranberries and pecans into the quinoa.
- Mix the orange zest, soy sauce, cider vinegar, honey, curry powder, chili sauce, and mint in a bowl.
- Pour the dressing onto the salad and mix.
Again great idea!!
Curried turkey sounds great…I made today something ala carbonara sauce from turkey ham… I will post recipe shortly 🙂
Have a great day, Margot
wow, this is really interesting and pretty! I came here from tartelette’s post; incidentally, I posted berries and white chocolate pudding too, just like her, on my blog for SHF:)
Yum…this one’s right up my alley!! I’ll have to give it a try;)!!
Kevin – you are on a role. I wish I had some leftover turkey in the fridge right now! I may have to cook a bird for New Year’s Day dinner.
opps – roll
Perhaps one day I shall learn how to edit my own writing.
Another great idea about what to do with that leftover turkey Kevin.
You make very healthy dishes all the time! And best of all, they look wonderfully tasty!
Kevin, I think you are the leftover king! Very creative!
You had a wonderful idea, The only things that I made with the leftovers are sandwichs and a pie
I have yet to try Quinoa (keen-wa) and your giving me some ideas!
Delicious! What a great way to lighten up leftovers!
I am always looking for different ways to use quinoa, and this sounds wonderful!
Hi Kevin 🙂
Just a short note to let you know that I tagged you for 7 Random Facts… meme…
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=1295
Participating is totally optional so I won’t feel offended if you won’t have time to post it 🙂
Have a great day, Margot
Great idea for all the leftover turkey this time of year. Happy New Year to you, Kevin 🙂
I do love curried chicken or turkey salads. I have never thought to use quinoa. Isn’t it an interesting grain? It has a unique texture. I’m sure your salad was delicious.