The recipe is in Jeanne Kelley’s new book is Vegetarian Salad for Dinner
6 servings GF
I have pretty kumquat trees on my terrace. I’ll pluck and pop one of the little orange citrus into my mouth whenever I walk by for a quick, puckering pick-me-up. Kumquats are great addition to salad—the peel is sweet, and the pulp adds the perfect amount of tart. When I’ve eaten all the kumquats off my tree, I use tangerine sections, which are good in this salad too.
1 ½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 cup quinoa
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs, such as dill, mint, and/or cilantro
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
4 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar
2 cups wild or baby arugula
2 carrots, very thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly sliced
12 kumquats, sliced, or 4 tangerines, peeled and separated into sections
2 watermelon radishes, peeled and very thinly sliced
½ cup toasted shelled pistachios
Bring the water and salt to a simmer in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, fluff with a fork, and cool completely. Add the cheese, herbs, 2 tablespoons of the oil, and the lemon juice to the quinoa and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile: Cook the snap peas in a medium pot of rapidly boiling salted water until crisp-tender. Drain well. (The quinoa and snap peas can be prepared up to 2 days ahead; cover and refrigerate separately.)
Whisk the remaining 4 tablespoons oil, the vinegar, and ¼ teaspoon salt to blend in a small bowl for the dressing. Mix the snap peas, arugula, carrots, fennel, kumquats, radishes, and pistachios into the quinoa mixture. Toss with the dressing and serve.
Tip: I use an inexpensive V-slicer to shave paper-thin slices of the fennel, carrot, and watermelon radish.
