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Quinoa Salad With Roasted Carrots and Frizzled Leeks

5.0(194)

This quinoa salad, filled with soft roasted carrots, currants and a pomegranate molasses-spiked dressing, makes enough to feed a crowd, though you can easily halve the recipe for a smaller group. You can make it with any color quinoa you come across – it comes in shades of tan (called white), rusty red and brownish black. Just don’t mix them together in one pot because they all have slightly different cooking times. As for the pomegranate molasses, it's available in specialty shops and online, but if you don’t have it, substitute a good quality balsamic vinegar spiked with a little honey if you like. You can toss together the quinoa, dressing and carrots the day before serving, but don’t add the arugula until the last minute to keep it as fresh and crisp as possible.

by Melissa Clark·published 2014-04-16

Open original recipe

Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Servings

10 servings

Total time

1h 15m

Calories / serving

381 kcal

Ingredients (9)

serves

1 leek, trimmedleek
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for frying leeks and for servingoil
Kosher salt and black pepperpepper
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juicelemon-juice
2 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, more for servingpomegranate-molasses
2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick coinscarrot
2 cups quinoa (13 ounces)quinoa
1/3 cup dried currantscurrant
6 ounces fresh arugulaarugula

Instructions (6 steps)

01Cut leek in half lengthwise and rinse away any grit. Slice thinly. In a small skillet over medium heat, warm 1/4 inch olive oil. Add a handful of leeks and fry until golden brown, 15 to 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with remaining leeks.
02In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, molasses, 1 teaspoon salt and a large pinch of pepper. Whisk in 3/4 cup oil.
03Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss carrots with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Spread on one or two large baking sheets so they fit in one layer. Roast carrots, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.