Sweet & Spicy Quinoa Salad

Normally in the contest between sweet and spicy, spicy always wins with me.

These days, however, my taste buds are more than a little finicky. Thanks to the pressure that baby is putting on my stomach, eating has become kind of…difficult. For the foodie in me, this means I’ve got to make it count.

I feel like I’m that neurotic friend in a restaurant who can’t order without calling the server back to change their order three times. (As if national security is dependent on making the correct order.) Only I do this in the privacy of my own kitchen and its just myself I’m driving crazy.

Do I want something sweet? Spicy?

Hmmm…how about both?

This quinoa salad gives you just that.

The homemade sauce is packed with flavor, and you can even amp things up a bit by doubling the crushed red pepper if you like things fire engine hot. Or if are, say, trying to test the theory that spicy food brings on labor.

Not that I would have done that mind you. Just like I haven’t been putting balsamic vinegar on everything and hubby is most definitely NOT at the grocery store buying eggplant and pineapple right now…

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Sweet & Spicy Quinoa Salad

Author Wendy Polisi

Ingredients

• 1 orange peeled and segmented
• 1 granny smith apple cored and chopped drizzled with
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1 roasted red pepper chopped
• 1 cup seedless grapes halved
• 1 cup arugula chopped
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• ¼ cup cashews chopped
• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 8 cloves garlic minced
• Dressing
• ½ cup Sweet and Sour Sauce one recipe, above
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or gluten free tamari

Instructions

1. Make the Sweet and Sour Sauce
2. In a small saucepan, toast the red pepper flakes over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add maple syrup and coconut palm sugar and stir to combine. Add vinegar and salt and cook over medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and remove from heat. Allow to cool completely.
3. Make the Dressing
4. In a small bowl, combine sweet and sour sauce, lime juice and soy sauce.
5. Make the Salad
6. In a large bowl, add orange, apple, shallot, green pepper, grapes, arugula and quinoa. Toss with ½ of the dressing and sprinkle with cashews to serve. Drizzle with additional dressing if desired. Reserve any unused dressing for another use.

Recipe Notes

Servings 6, Calories 227, Fat 4g, Carbohydrates 43.6g, Protein 4.5g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 359mg, Fiber 3.5g, Sugars 23.5g, WW Pts 6