Saffron’s Spring Salad
Created by Jeanne Kelley
Jeanne Kelley has a pretty kumquat trees on her terrace. She’ll pluck and pop one of the little orange citrus into her mouth whenever she walks 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 she’s eaten all the kumquats off her tree, she uses tangerine sections, which are good in this salad too.
(6 to 8 servings)
Ingredients for Saffron’s Spring Salad
1 1/2 cups water
½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 cup quinoa
4 ounces feta, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as dill, mint, and/or cilantro
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons 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
Directions for Saffron’s Spring Salad
Bring the water and the salt to a simmer in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, fluff with a fork and cool completely. Add cheese, herbs, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and the lemon juice to the quinoa and stir to combine. Season to taste 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 olive 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.
