Kumquat Quinoa Salad

When most people make check-out line impulse purchases, it’s usually something along the lines of a candy bar, a cool new type of gum, a bottle of wine on the end cap at Target…. what? Who does THAT?

When Nick makes a check-out line impulse purchase, it’s kumquats.

Yep, you heard that right. This past weekend we went to a little Farmer’s Market, and when we brought all our loot to the cashier, sitting on the counter amongst peanut brittle and salt water taffy was a big basket of kumquats. After annoying the cashier for a solid 5 minutes (per usual) with questions about kumquats, Nick asked if we could get some. I had a feeling they weren’t going to be what he expected, but I’ve learned not to fight these things anymore, so into our bag went the kumquats.

As soon as we got in the car, we tried the kumquats. They’re like little tiny oranges, and you eat the whole thing. I was expecting them to taste like biting into an orange without peeling it, and that’s exactly what they tasted like. Nick’s face looked like a 5-year-old who’d just been force fed a brussell sprout. So I was right. Again. Shhhh.

I didn’t think the kumquats were particularly horrible, but they weren’t my favorite. I decided that if I could find the right way to prepare them, we might actually enjoy them. So when we got home, I started Googling.

Remember my trip to Whole Foods and adventures in bulk bins? Well, another star ingredient I purchased that day was this really pretty tri-colored quinoa.

I’ve been wanting to use it, so, knowing that Google can sometimes perform miracles, I typed in “quinoa kumquat,” and up popped a really delicious sounding salad!

(from fANNEtastic food)

1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup water
1 cup arugula
1 cup kumquats, chopped
1 cup chickpeas
juice from 1 lemon
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

In a pot, mix the vegetable broth and water.

Bring to a boil, add quinoa, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, chop up the kumquats.

Mix the arugula, kumquats and chickpeas together.

Toss with the lemon juice, olive oil and pepper.

Once the quinoa is cooked, add it to the bowl and toss everything together.

I really liked this salad! Nick was still not a fan of the kumquats, but I thought the tangy citrus went well with the peppery arugula, and I liked the chew of the mini peels contrasted with the mushy chickpeas. The salad was even more stellar the next day, once the kumquats marinated a little and got a little softer. If you don’t have or don’t like the kumquats, this salad would also be really good with dried cherries or even craisins, and maybe some balsamic instead of lemon juice. Yum… I just might have to try that…