California Quinoa Mango Salad

Last week I had one of the best summer salads ever – okay so I know I say that about a lot of great recipes – but this one was really amazing. It was the Health Starts Here California Quinoa salad from Whole Foods deli. The HSH deli items at Whole Foods have no added salt, oil or sugar. This salad was the prefect balance of fabulous ingredients starting with protein packed quinoa, including tropical flavors like mango and shredded coconut then studded with sweet dried currants, edamame, red onion, sweet red bell peppers, fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice. Are you drooling yet?

Sometimes Whole Foods will have the recipes for deli items on their website but sadly this one wasn’t listed.

The only thing I could do was to try and create it using the list of ingredients on the box. Guess what? My version was a huge success, in fact I liked it even better than the Whole Foods version! If you don’t have any mango use pineapple. This recipe makes a huge amount which is great for taking to a picnic or potluck. If you are making it for a smaller group feel free to cut the recipe in half. It’s the best combination of ingredients and so healthy! Eat it alone as a entree salad served over a bed of baby greens. Perfect as a side dish to a veggie burger or a cup of soup. Hubby Tom and I have been enjoying this salad and it’s going on the menu again soon.

California Quinoa Mango Salad

• 2 cups Tri colored Quinoa, rinsed and drained or any color of quinoa
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups Organic Shelled Edamame  (I used Whole Foods Frozen non GMO)
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup dried currants – can sub raisins or dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup red onion, finely diced
• juice of two limes
• 4 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups mango, diced

In a medium size sauce pan mix the water and quinoa, over a medium heat bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 10-15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed. Set aside to cool. If you are in a hurry, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the hot quinoa out on it and it will cool down fairly quickly.

Once the quinoa has cooled down transfer it to a large mixing bowl and combine with rest of ingredients. Chill before serving.

Yield: 14 cups

Servings Size: 1 cup for an entree or 1/2 cup for a side dish

Nutritional Information

Per 1 Cup Serving: 214 Calories, 7.1 g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 4.6 mg Sodium, 67.2 mg Potassium, 32.2 g Carbohydrates, 5.9 g Fiber, 8.8 g Protein, WWPP 6

Inspired by Whole Foods Deli California Quinoa Salad

Nutmeg Notes

Blog Update

In the past due to so much comment spam I had to close comments to recipes to keep control of the spam bots. Well some time back son David installed a better comment spam filter so now comments are open on the recipe pages. If you try a recipe and would like to comment on how it turned out or what tweaks you made to it, feel free to leave a comment on the recipe page. Not only does that help me out, but its quite helpful to folks who are looking at the recipe and thinking about trying it.

To Comment or Not To Comment

A friend of mine recently asked me if I want people to leave comments on my blog posts. She said she reads my posts but never comments because she didn’t know if I wanted people to. Of course I responded with a resounding YES! I like the interaction with you the reader and even though I know through Google Analytics that people are reading the posts the fun part for me is getting to know all of you. I enjoy your questions and comments – keep them coming. 🙂

I was going to post yesterday but I never had enough time to sit down at the computer! It was one of those day where as soon as one task was done another one was started. Much was accomplished and that is always a good thing. I like being busy and productive! I find that I don’t have the mental energy later in the day to post. I am such a morning person, it’s my most productive time of day and my favorite part of the day.

To Your Health

Tami

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question!

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