Saturday, April 2, 2011

Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad - French Fridays with Dorie

Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad - French Fridays with Dorie
This week, the French Fridays with Dorie group made Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around my French Table. Sure, I'm a day late in posting, but I did make and eat it on Friday! :)

I've eaten quinoa in the past, but never cooked with the ancient super grain. To tell the truth, I'm having some issues with quinoa...because I feel I should buy one box and send one box back to Bolivia. Did you hear that in Bolivia, where they've been eating quinoa for a zillion years, locals are being priced out of the market? Because of the worldwide demand for quinoa, the price of quinoa has increased and many poor Bolivians cannot afford quinoa. And now they are eating cheap, less nutritious processed foods, rice and noodles. Oy vey. (Articles from: NYTimes "Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary at Home" 3/19/2011, The Week, NPR)
Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad - French Fridays with Dorie
This salad is very adaptable. I used dried cranberries, golden raisins, almonds, and sunflower seeds. My dressing included pink grapefruit, Meyer lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh ginger. I didn't have any fresh herbs around, so I chiffonade lettuce instead. I skipped the dollop of yogurt.

Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad - French Fridays with Dorie
Be sure to check out my fellow French Fridays with Dorie members and see their creations!

Please note: French Fridays with Dorie will not be posting recipes. Please support Dorie and purchase the book or find it at your library.

16 comments:

  1. AudreyApril 2, 2011 at 6:55 AM

    I love the chiffonade idea...I had actually been thinking of shredding some spinach.

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  2. RyanApril 2, 2011 at 7:18 AM

    Yours sounds lovely with all of the fresh citrus- I really loved the dressing on this. I felt a little guilty buying the quinoa as well.

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  3. Gloria BakerApril 2, 2011 at 7:24 AM

    This look absolutely delicious!! gloria love the colours

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  4. NanaApril 2, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    That looks fantastic. I, too, like the idea of the shredded lettuce,
    it looks so good. Although Tricia and I had different opinions
    in regard to the recipe, it was fun making it and trying new foods.
    Wonderful job.

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  5. AdrianaApril 2, 2011 at 8:01 AM

    I was also distraught at the news regarding quinoa's affordability in Bolivia. Your salad looks lovely, though!

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  6. Mary AnnApril 2, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    What a disturbing article. How frustrating really. What to do?
    On the other hand this salad looks delicious.

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  7. Meister @ The Nervous CookApril 2, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    That article broke my heart, too. G-d, agriculture is so frustrating and complicated, and it's so important that more people understand what they put into their bodies, where it comes from, and all the implications that come along with it.

    I struggle with this idea all the time (I work in the coffee industry -- comes with its own host of post-Colonial and global environmental and socioeconomic problems), and it's something of a relief to see it being brought to the public's attention. But… what do we do about it?

    On an admittedly lighter note about the salad, however, this looks great. I do love quinoa -- it just screams "SPRING" to me. And especially with fruit! I'd love to give this a try; thanks for sharing not only the inspiration, but also your comments about Bolivia.

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  8. Cher RockwellApril 2, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    The salad was rather lovely. Beautiful pictures.
    I see they are starting to have success growing quinoa in the US & Canada. Hopefully, North American growers can add a more acceptable source for this food source.

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  9. AnonymousApril 2, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    Hi! I was a day late posting and cooking but what the heck, at least we tried it. I also heard about the quinoa prices in South/Central America. Doesn't seem right when we have access to so many wonderful foods here. I enjoyed the recipe and am more open to using quinoa in my cooking but would gladly give it up to feed those less fortunate than I am.

    Love the addition of the grapefruit. Nice job!

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  10. AnonymousApril 2, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    I got to read that article the other day thanks to Twitter. Quinoa is good for us and its popularity keeps going up so this was bound to happen, lets hope this situation resolves soon!

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  11. LanaApril 3, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    I was very upset when I read the article about Bolivians being priced out of their staple food. But I already had a bag of quinoa in the pantry and went ahead with the dish. I have cooked with quinoa before, and loved every version, including this one. Versatile, adjustable, and simple to prepare.
    Great photo!

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  12. AnonymousApril 3, 2011 at 6:08 AM

    I love to eat quinoa, but I rarely ever make it, this reminds me of my mothers home cooking ... I never knew about the situation in Bolivia, clearly I've had my head stuck in the sand.

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  13. Trevor Sis BoomApril 3, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    We both had different ideas for the lettuce. I went with lettuce wraps. So sad about the article. I would have thought that increased demand would bring wealth, not malnutrition.

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  14. Mardi MichelsApril 4, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Yes I loved how easy this dish was and also how easy it was to customise according to your tastes! That is terrible about Bolivia :-(

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  15. SaraApril 4, 2011 at 3:51 PM

    Lovely photos! Thank you for the information on Bolivia, as I had not read it before.

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  16. AnonymousApril 6, 2011 at 11:41 AM

    Thanks for posting the link to the NYT article. Globalization strikes again - I'm not sure how this can be resolved for Bolivians. I hope that those of us using this seed elsewhere start growing it closer to home.

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