The superfood salad – quinoa, cacao nibs, and pomelo. So healthy it is. The nuttiness of the quinoa, the sweet acidity of the pomelo, the bitter complexity of the cacao nibs… this red quinoa citrus salad is so delicious.
But where do you find these ingredients? You will be able to find red quinoa in a health food or gourmet supplies shop. If no red quinoa, use the more common yellow variety.
The cacao nibs are bits of fermented, dried, roasted and crushed cacao bean. They are bitter, but with an intense chocolate taste. This bitter chocolate-ness adds a particularly interesting dimension to the quinoa citrus salad.
I discovered this wonderful ingredient because there is a blossoming cacao growing industry in the Mekong delta. The associated chocolate production industry is booming. Marou chocolate is highly recommended. Even the NY Times is on to it: The Best Chocolate You Have Ever Tasted. There is a good article about cacao nibs here. You can buy them online at Amazon. If you don’t have cacao nibs, substitute with high purity dark chocolate, chopped into small (3x3mm) pieces.
The pomelo fruit is native to Malaysia and found across South East Asia, and now also California. As they are closely related to grapefruit, you can substitute grapefruit for the pomelo. The red quinoa citrus salad will still be amazing.
Pomelo is a great salad ingredient. Check out other pomelo salad recipes on delectabilia.
Red quinoa and citrus salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 juice of a lemon
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp grape seed oil
- 1 Tbsp cocoa nibs
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup red quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 400 g pomelo segmented, all pith and pips removed
- 1 orange segmented, all pith and pips removed
- 1 large mild chilli
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup cacao nibs
- 2 Tbsp sake
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa, 1 part quinoa to two parts water.
- After it is cooked, fluff it up and allow to cool
- Blend the cocoa nibs with the orange, lemon, vinegar, salt, and pepper
- Slowly add the oil.
- Soak the dried cranberries and cacoa nibs in the sake for 30 minutes.
- Remove seed and finely chop the chilli
- Break up the pomelo segments
- Combine the quinoa, cranberries, cocoa nibs, chilli, and dressing, shortly before serving. Allow to drain a little first if necessary.
delectabilia salad dressing
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