A watercolour of a bowl of pale quinoa studded with bright orange dried apricot pieces and flaked almonds
Generated with OpenAI gpt-image-1
Adapted from North African grain salads, using quinoa in place of couscous

Quinoa with apricots and almonds

An established dish converted to shelf-stable ingredients. Every substitution is documented below.

How long it keeps

About 6 months, set by Apricots (dried).

Indicative, for planning a build before you buy. The answer for a pack you already own is the best before date printed on it, and that only holds if it has been stored as the label says.

Serves
3
Burners
1
Pans
1
Water
0.8 L
Active
8 min
Total
25 min

Ingredients

Rinse the quinoa. It carries a natural coating called saponin that tastes soapy and bitter, and rinsing it under running water for thirty seconds removes it. Skipping this is why people decide they dislike quinoa.

  1. Almonds toasted dry in the pan, two minutes, out.
  2. Rinse the quinoa well. Into the pan with 400 ml of water and the salt. Boil, then simmer covered 15 minutes until the water has gone and the grains show a little white spiral.
  3. Off the heat, lid on, 5 minutes. Fork through.
  4. Chopped apricots, cumin, herbs, oil and lemon juice stirred in. Almonds over.

Good hot, and better at ambient temperature an hour later once the apricots have softened into it.

Serves 3.

What this was adapted from

North African grain salads, using quinoa in place of couscous

  • couscous → quinoa

    Quinoa takes fifteen minutes rather than five and a good deal more water, which is a real cost. What it buys is a complete protein -- rare in this cupboard -- and a texture that holds up rather than going claggy when it stands.

  • fresh herbs and preserved lemon → dried mixed herbs and bottled lemon juice

    Neither keeps. The dish loses most of its brightness and gains none of it back; the lemon juice is doing acidity only, not the aromatic work preserved lemon would.