Sweet and Crunchy Quinoa Salad

After a weekend in San Francisco and Napa, followed by a week of recovering from taking the red-eye back on Sunday night, I am finally feeling back to normal.  You can see a great re-cap of our trip on, my cousin, Laurens's blog, Marketing & Martinis.  We had the BEST time and I am already looking forward to our next getaway.

I had a much needed low-key weekend, mostly spent looking for a new apartment and baking up some sweet treats (only one more week until I can actually eat sweets!).  I took a break from baking to make this delicious quinoa salad.  I have a slight obsession with quinoa.  The cumin and cinnamon in this salad give it such a unique flavor.  I ate this for a light lunch but, for a meal, I would serve it with grilled chicken or over a large plate of greens.

Sweet and Crunchy Quinoa Salad
Source:  adapted from The Kitchn
Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 small red onion, chopped

Directions
Place the quinoa into a small saucepan and add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is evaporated. Turn off the heat and let quinoa sit covered for at least one, hour or preferably, three hours.

Place the chopped walnuts into a small pan over medium heat until lightly toasted, stirring often. Set aside.

In a small bowl, place the olive oil, vinegar, honey salt, pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Whisk well.

When the quinoa is dry, use a whisk to break apart the seeds and place into a large bowl. Add the vinaigrette and mix with the whisk.  Add the walnuts, cranberries and red onion and mix gently. Serve at room temperature.