Serves 4 to 6
This refreshing quinoa salad is my idea of spa cuisine. The quinoa is tossed with crunchy veggies including celery, fennel, and radishes, chopped really small like confetti, a light, lemon vinaigrette, and poached salmon flaked on the top. I love a dish like this, which is healthy not because I tried to make it so, or made compromises. It just is. If you want to decorate with pretty radish rounds, reserve two radishes, thinly slice them on a mandoline, and scatter them over the top of the finished salads.
1 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled to room temperature (see here; about 3½ cups cooked quinoa)
1 bunch radishes, trimmed, scrubbed, and diced very small
½ red onion, diced very small
1 small fennel bulb, quartered, cored, and diced very small
2 celery stalks, diced very small
Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
12 ounces Poached Salmon (here), at room temperature or chilled
¼ cup fresh dill sprigs
Put the quinoa, radishes, onion, fennel, and celery in a large bowl. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and gently toss to combine with a rubber spatula. Gently flake the salmon into large chunks, letting them fall into the bowl with the quinoa and scatter the dill and sliced radishes (if you’re using them) over the top.
Makes about ¾ cup
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Combine the shallot, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and a few turns of pepper in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to soften the shallot. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream. The vinaigrette will keep, refrigerated in a covered container, for up to 1 week.