True to being the renegade that I am and the one who gravitates toward the “bright shiny objects”, I am going to use both Gravenstein and pink pearl apples in this recipe which I initially made at the Gravenstein apple fair in Sebastopol, California> I included this recipe in my cookbook The New Fast Food. It’s still a winner, and easily changed to suit your taste. Don’t like curry? Leave it out. Want it spicy? Add cayenne or a fresh hot pepper. Even grated ginger would be good. Want to make it a main dish? Add baked tofu chunks or cooked black or French green lentils. Anyway that you make it, it’s easy and tasty.
Curried Quinoa Gravenstein Apple Salad
Quinoa is paired with in-season apples and sweet and pungent spices for an easy salad. I used local heirloom apples but use what you can get. My husband who isn’t a quinoa fan tasted this and declared that he’d eat it anytime. A great introduction to quinoa.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed and drained
- 1 –2 teaspoons curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ cup broth or water
- 2 apples chopped and divided (reserve chopped apples away from air)
- 3 tablespoons dried tart cherries
- ¾ cup apple juice,orange juice or broth or water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds or your favorite toasted nut or seed
- Chopped Italian parsley or cilantro for garnish, if desired 1 cup diced onion
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the onion to the pressure cooker and sauté for a minute.
- Add the quinoa and cook until toasty. Add the curry powder, cumin and cardamom and toast for 30 seconds.
- Add the broth, one chopped apple, cherries and apple juice.
- For a standard Pressure Cooker: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to high pressure over high heat. Lower the heat to maintain high pressure for 5 min-utes. Remove from the heat and let the pres-sure come down naturally.
- For an Electric Pressure Cooker: 5 minutes high pressure; natural pressure release.
- Carefully remove the lid and fluff the qui-noa while adding the remaining apple and the almonds. Taste and add salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro, if desired. Serve hot, warm, room temperature or chilled.
Notes
5 minutes high pressure; natural pressure release
I am not fortunate enough to find those pink pearl or heirloom apples in my area but I still made it with my standard supermarket apples and they tasted absolutely fantastic. Thanks for the instructions on cooking. I usually mess it up. But your recipes I never go wrong. Thanks for this. I will keep an eye open for different apple varieties to try out this recipe next time.
Thank you Anita. I am happy that you liked it. There are so many delicious (not the variety, of course) apples out there. Local is often best.