Quinoa salad, Turkish style, with pomegranate and herbs

The first time I made this salad, it was for a friend in Lisbon who cannot eat wheat. She had come to every meze evening I hosted and watched the bowl of kısır go round the table without her. So I took the things that make kısır and a good çoban salatası (shepherd's salad) taste of home, the lemon, the herbs, the pomegranate molasses, the crunch of cucumber and onion, and dressed quinoa with them instead of bulgur. The bowl was empty before the bread was finished, and most of the people eating it could have had the bulgur.

Quinoa is not Turkish, of course. It comes from the Andes and has nothing to do with Anatolian kitchens. But it behaves well with Turkish flavours. Its small grains take a dressing the way fine bulgur does, and its slight nuttiness sits nicely under sharp lemon and sweet-sour molasses. In winter, when pomegranates are piled high at the market and tomatoes are pale, it makes a bright salad for a holiday table.

Two salads in one bowl

This salad borrows from two Turkish ones. From kısır it takes the dressing: pomegranate molasses, lemon, olive oil, a spoonful of pepper paste, dried mint and pul biber. From çoban salatası it takes the vegetables: cucumber, tomato, onion and long green pepper, all cut small and even.

You can lean either way. Leave out the pepper paste and it is closer to a herb salad, pale and fresh like a Turkish tabule. Stir the paste into the warm quinoa and it turns rosy and rich, much more like kısır. I usually do the second for winter tables and the first in summer.

Step by step

1. Rinse the quinoa properly

Quinoa seeds carry a natural bitter coating. Most of what you buy has been washed already, but not always well enough. Put the quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse it under the cold tap for a full minute, rubbing it with your fingers, until the water no longer looks foamy. Skip this and the whole salad has a faint soapy bitterness you cannot fix with dressing.

2. Use less water than the packet says

Most instructions say two parts water to one part quinoa. That gives soft quinoa, which is fine for a warm side dish but too wet for a salad. I tested both side by side: with 2 cups of water the grains were swollen and a little mushy at the edges; with 1 3/4 cups they were tender, separate and still had a tiny pop when bitten. For a salad, 1 3/4 cups water to 1 cup quinoa is the ratio.

3. Simmer, then rest

Bring the water and quinoa to the boil with a little salt, cover, turn the heat down low and cook for 15 minutes. You will see the small white spiral, the germ, curling away from each seed when it is done. Take it off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes.

4. Cool it fast and dry

Spread the quinoa out on a large tray or plate and let it cool for 15 minutes, fluffing it once with a fork. Leaving it in the warm pot keeps it steaming and it goes clumpy. If you are using pepper paste, stir it in while the quinoa is still warm, so the grains take on the colour evenly.

5. Cut the vegetables small

Everything should be about the size of a chickpea, so each spoonful has a bit of everything. Seed the cucumber if it is very watery. In winter I use cherry tomatoes, which have more flavour out of season than large ones, quartered and drained in a sieve.

6. Dress, then add herbs and pomegranate last

Mix the dressing into the quinoa first and let it soak in for ten minutes. Then add the vegetables, then the herbs and pomegranate seeds just before serving, so the herbs stay green and the seeds stay crisp.

A worked example: a holiday table for twelve

For the last night of the year I make this salad for twelve alongside other mezes. Triple the recipe below and here is how the afternoon goes:

To seed a pomegranate without a mess, cut it in half across the middle and hold one half cut side down over a bowl. Tap the back firmly with a wooden spoon and the seeds fall out. A medium pomegranate gives about 1 cup (roughly 150 g) of seeds.

Recipe

Turkish-style quinoa salad with pomegranate

Serves 6 as a side or meze, 4 as a light lunch

Prep

25 min

Cook

15 min

Rest

25 min

Total

1 hr 5 min

Amounts in

cups & spoons grams & ml

Quinoa

• 1 cup170 g quinoa, well rinsed
• 1 3/4 cups420 ml water
• 1/2 tsp3 g fine salt
• 1 tbsp15 g Turkish red pepper paste (optional)

Vegetables and herbs

• 1 medium1 medium cucumber, seeded and finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups200 g cherry tomatoes, quartered and drained
• 44 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 11 long green pepper, finely diced
• 1 bunch50 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 bunch10 g fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 3/4 cup110 g pomegranate seeds

Dressing

• 1/4 cup60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp30 ml lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp22 ml pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp1 tsp dried mint
• 1/2 tsp1/2 tsp pul biber (mild red pepper flakes)
• 1/4 tsp1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp3 g fine salt, or to taste

Method

1. Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve under cold running water for a full minute, rubbing it, until the water is no longer foamy.
2. Put the quinoa, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the little white spirals show.
3. Take off the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes, then spread the quinoa on a large tray.
4. If using pepper paste, stir it into the warm quinoa with a fork until evenly coloured. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, fluffing once.
5. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, dried mint, pul biber, cumin and salt together.
6. Tip the cooled quinoa into a wide bowl, pour over the dressing, mix well and leave for 10 minutes to absorb.
7. Fold in the cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions and green pepper.
8. Just before serving, fold in the parsley, mint and most of the pomegranate seeds, taste for salt and lemon, and scatter the rest of the seeds on top.

Cook's notes

• The dressed quinoa and diced vegetables keep for a day in separate covered bowls in the fridge; add herbs and pomegranate at the last minute.
• Pomegranate molasses varies a lot in sweetness and sharpness, so start with 1 tbsp and add more to taste.

Variations

• Add a handful of toasted walnuts or a cup of cooked chickpeas to make it a lunch on its own.
• Use red or black quinoa, or a mix; they are a little chewier and need 2 to 3 minutes longer.
• Replace the tomato with diced roasted red pepper in the darkest weeks of winter.
• Crumble over some white cheese at the table for anyone who wants it.

If you want to know how quinoa compares with bulgur and couscous in texture and cooking, there is a side-by-side guide to bulgur, couscous and quinoa.

Cook's questions

Can I make it the day before?

Partly. Cook and dress the quinoa and dice the sturdy vegetables the day before, but keep the herbs, tomatoes and pomegranate separate and add them the next day.

Why is my quinoa bitter?

It was not rinsed enough. Rinse longer next time; once cooked, the bitterness cannot be removed.

Is pomegranate molasses essential?

It gives the salad its sweet-sour depth. Without it, use a little more lemon and half a teaspoon of honey, though the flavour will be lighter.

What goes with it?

It sits well on a meze table beside hummus, yogurt dips and stuffed vine leaves, and it is good next to roast chicken or grilled fish. For a warm dish on the same theme, quinoa also makes a fine stuffing for peppers with walnuts.