Photo Courtesy of: Mimsy
This recipe is brought to you by…. Mimsy! Otherwise known as my mom 
She took a beautiful photo of this dish after she made it and I thought it looked beautiful and tasty, so I had to share it with the rest of you. The recipe actually comes from a Weight Watchers Weekly magazine, but Mimsy did make a few substitutions. And I figured out the point breakdown for her way and their way.
I haven’t actually made this yet, but I’m excited to try it! The colors look wonderful and the flavors of the ingredients are already great individually, so I can only imagine how yummy they are combined together.
Asian-Flavored Quinoa Salad (from Weight Watchers)
Servings: 4
PointsPlus Per Serving: 6 (with sugar snap peas), 7 (with edamame)
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups fat-free chicken broth
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3/4 uncooked quinoa (or 1.5 cups cooked quinoa), 12 PP
- 2 tsp dark sesame oil, 2 PP
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger root
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup sugar snap peas (or 1-1.5 cups shelled edamame, 6-8PP)
- 1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
- 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp scallion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 PP
- 2 tbsp orange marmalade, 3 PP (if using low-sugar marmalade, it’s 1 PP)
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, combine broth and quinoa; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, to make dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, marmalade, oil, ginger, and salt; set aside.
3. After quinoa has cooked for 10 minutes, toss in snap peas (or edamame) to partially steam them; cover and simmer until most of liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Remove pan from heat and stir in carrots cabbage, peppers, and dressing; mix to thoroughly combine. Garnish with cilantro, scallions, and sesame seeds. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Yields about 1 heaping cup per serving.
NOTES: Check the box of quinoa you bought to see if it has been “pre-rinsed”. Of not, rinse the quinoa in a colander before cooking to remove its bitter outer coating. Use prepackaged coleslaw mix or shredded vegetables to speed the preparation of this dish.
Also note – If you used low-sugar marmalade and the sugar snap peas, the PP goes down to 5 PP per serving. If you use low-sugar marmalade and only 1 cup of edamame rather than 1.5, the PP goes down to 6 PP per serving. Mimsy prefers edamame to sugar snap peas because she believes that they don’t overpower the other flavors of the dish, whereas sugar snap peas have a very distinct flavor and tend to be the highlight of any bite where it’s included. I’m sure either way you make this, it’s going to be fantastic!
3 Comments
Ooooo, I feel famous! Glad you loved the photo and I do think you’ll love this recipe. But, I never did that part where you rinse the quinoa….i never have with any recipe….don’t we have to eat a peck of dirt before we die??? Plus, how do you rinse a grain that’s small enough to fall through the colander holes? So, maybe that’s why it’s a yummy nutty flavor, the quinoa, because it hasn’t been rinsed?
Enjoy!
It’s like with eggplant… you want to salt it to draw out the bitterness before you cook it. Quinoa is the same way. You can use a mesh colander or some cheesecloth in a strainer to keep it from falling through
And as far as eating dirt goes, you ate your fair share at the tender age of ONE! Or do I have to get Aunt Kathy to remind you of this?? PS. I will not be putting up a recipe for actual MUD PIE.
Too funny! Um and I am NOT buying cheesecloth just to rinse quinoa, I’ll take mine just dirty, please, thank you very much!! and I’ll blame Aunt Kathy for my taste buds!