Curried Rice and Quinoa Salad

By Martha Rose Shulman

Curried Rice and Quinoa Salad
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(158)
Comments
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For a salad to make a meal, it should contain something more substantial, like grains, beans or potatoes, or protein-rich ingredients like cheese, fish or eggs. Poach an egg, place it atop a generous serving of frisée salad tossed with croutons, herbs and a tart vinaigrette, and you’ve got lunch or a light dinner. A spinach salad with green beans can be transformed into a comforting and nourishing meal when warm potatoes tossed with vinaigrette and feta are added to the mix. I’ve made this mixed-grains salad using both regular brown rice and brown basmati rice. I like the lightness of the basmati brown rice, but I also enjoy the chewiness of regular brown rice.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves six

    For the Curried Rice and Quinoa Salad

    • ¾cup basmati brown rice, or 1 cup regular long grain or short grain brown rice, cooked
    • ½cup quinoa, preferably red quinoa, cooked
    • ¼cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
    • 1large stalk celery, diced
    • 1apple, cored, cut in small dice and tossed with 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
    • ¼cup chopped cilantro

    For the Dressing

    • ½cup plain low-fat yogurt or buttermilk
    • 2tablespoons Hellmann’s or Best Foods Mayonnaise
    • 2tablespoons fresh lime juice
    • 1teaspoon Dijon mustard
    • 1teaspoon curry powder
    • Pinch of cayenne
    • Salt to taste
    • 2tablespoons canola oil

    For the Garnish

    • ½pound broccoli florets, steamed for four or five minutes and refreshed with cold water
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

185 calories; 12 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 321 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. For the Curried Rice and Quinoa Salad

    1. Step 1

      Combine all of the salad ingredients.

    2. Step 2

      Whisk together the yogurt or buttermilk, mayonnaise, lime juice, Dijon mustard, curry powder, cayenne and salt to taste. Whisk in the oil, and toss with the salad. Garnish with the broccoli florets, and serve.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: You can make this several hours before serving, and keep in the refrigerator. Leftovers keep well for a few days.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Ratings

4 out of 5
158 user ratings
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Comments

Shannon Kennelly

I came back to write an amazing review and then I saw the author had written "10 minutes" for prep time and it threw me for a loop WHO ARE YOU KIDDING TEN MINUTES???! Is your quinoa magically cooked? Is this a Harry Potter recipe that made it on a Muggle website?? What about the rice! And I for one value my fingers. Chopping the apples fast enough to get this all done in 10 minutes? Get real. Need a magic wand for that swiftness. Delish meal. But 45 minutes to prepare for us No-maj.

adam f

Whenever a recipe gives an estimate of the time it assumes that all the prep work is done - rice is made, nuts are chopped, celery is diced, etc. - as if you had a cooking-show assistant. I always routinely triple the laughable prep times given in recipes (not just on the NYT website) if I'm really starting from scratch.

AC

Between the apple and celery, this has a very "chicken salad" feel to it! Lamenting vegetarians, take heart! I put it on a sandwich with hummus spread and sprouts - delish!

Katherine

Yum!! This was great. Very hearty and flavorful. I think this is a recipe that can easily be modified with what you have on hand. I used a wild rice blend with white quinoa, and mint instead of the cilantro. Omitted the broccoli based off of others' comments. I was afraid the ratio of dressing to salad would be off, but it was just the right amount. Thanks Martha!!

Nancy

Definitely worth doing, but plan an hour of prep, and you won't feel rushed. I steamed the broccoli atop the rice, toward the end, for just a few minutes when the water was almost all absorbed. I felt it mellowed the flavor of the vegetable, which some have described as too assertive. I used black rice instead of brown rice, because I had exactly the 3/4 cup required, and I would do it that way again, for the richness. Although I'm sure brown or red rice would have been fine, too.

Dover

Add more curry and mustard to dressing. Small amount of grains. Lots of broccoli, Apple, celery.

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