Love this recipe. A perfect side dish or cold as a salad…great for lunch! Easily adaptable to your personal taste which just adds to the glory of this recipe!
I don’t remember where I first found this recipe. I have mailboxes on my phone where I save recipes that I have seen and want to keep try later. Looking for a side dish the other night I found this recipe. It is delish! I made several changes to the original recipe
Add any type of dried fruit you like, Next time I am going to add currants instead of the raisins. I think they would be perfect in this dish. Also any small nut or seed will work too
Quinoa Pilaf with Dried Fruits
Ingredients
2 cups quinoa, rinsed
3 cups boiling water
4 tbsp olive oil – divided
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 cups dried fruit, chopped if necessary
pinch of cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds, optional ( any nut of your choice)
Method
- Put the quinoa into the boiling water. Stir, Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until tender and the water has been absorbed.
- While the quinoa is cooking, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan.
- Add onions and carrots and cook until tender
- Add the dried fruit, cinnamon, maple syrup, lemon juice and salt. Mix to combine and cook a bit longer. The dried fruit will soften up as it warms in the pan
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa and the mixture from the saucepan. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, the lemon juice and the nuts.
***This is good served warm as a side dish, room temperature or cold right from the fridge which is how I aml eating the leftovers!

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