Quinoa with Blood Oranges

So last Friday my computer crashed, at only 9 months old. Apparently a rare and faulty hard drive. I'll get a new computer in 6-8 weeks. Yes, weeks. And to top it all off, I lost everything on that computer. My fault for not backing it up, I get it. Luckily most of my pictures were also saved online, but not all of them. Oh well, likely I had too many and was never going to do anything with them anyways... Another big loss was all of my notes from Microsoft OneNote. I use that for everything- recipes, research, baby stuff. Again, probably I had too much information there I was never going to use, but it still sucks. The good news is by the time I get my new computer, I won't have to or have time to care about it because Alice will be here. I'm rambling- the point was I lost my recipes, bookmarks and recipe notes. Which means more than ever I should share our favorites here. Not only for you, but for the next time I'm the idiot that doesn't back up my computer and loses everything...

Beet, Blood Orange Quinoa Salad

Picture from MyRecipes.com

Ingredients
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
2 teaspoons grated blood orange rind
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons blood orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salad
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
dash salt
1 cup blood orange sections, chopped (I just used 1 blood orange)
1 clementine, sectioned and chopped
1 large diced peeled avocado
3 medium beets, cooked and cut into wedges

Directions
1. 1. To prepare dressing, combine first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Set aside.
2. 2. To prepare salad, place quinoa in a fine sieve, and rinse under cold running water for about 30 seconds. Drain well.
3. 3. Combine 1 3/4 chicken stock, quinoa, and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork.
4. 4. Combine quinoa, blood orange sections, avocado, clementines and beets in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Add dressing; toss gently to coat salad.


I only slightly adapted this recipe, mainly because I don't know wtf a kumquat is, and I'm lazy and don't normally measure ingredients for this type of dish. Just add to your taste- it's normally better that way anyways. But really, this is a favorite of ours during citrus season. It makes a great side to simple fish or scallop dish.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beet-blood-orange-quinoa-50400000109604/