All we’ve left is a chunk of turkey, a pomegranate, goat cheese and pistachios from cocktail hour.  Oh, and a little honey shallot vinaigrette.  Add in our favorite grain and some peppery greens and we got ourselves a sweet and crunchy, high-protein quinoa salad that looks nothing like Thanksgiving leftovers.

Winter Quinoa Salad

Serves 2 as an entree salad

Ingredients

For honey shallot vinaigrette:

1 medium shallot

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For salad:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked according to the package directions and cooled to room temperature

2 cups cooked turkey or chicken breast, cut into cubes

1 pomegranate, de-seeded (see how here)

1 cup roasted and salted pistachios in their shells

2 cups arugula

4 tablespoons goat cheese

Directions

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a mini cusinart.

To make the salad, combine your cooled quinoa, meat and pomegranate seeds in a large mixing bowl.  Pour in enough dressing, about half the total amount, to thoroughly moisten the quinoa.  Reserve the rest to add in just before serving.  This can be done up to a day in advance.  Keep chilled.

Just before serving, shell your pistachios and lay them out on your cutting board.

Use your chef’s knife as a weight to crush your pistachios.  Lay the blade flat -the edge facing away from you- over the nuts and press down gently with your palm.

A little pressure crushes the nuts slightly and separates them from that stubborn, purple skin.

Stir the arugula into the salad and add more dressing as desired.  Top with your crushed nuts and crumbled goat cheese.  Taste then add more salt if necessary.

xoxosl