Turkey Quinoa Salad

Turkey and cranberry sauce are two of my favourite things, especially in winter months. When my mom would roast a turkey, she would always freeze the leftovers so we could have turkey through the rest of the winter, rather than eating it continuously and possibly suffering from turkey burn-out. In my family, it wasn't cranberry sauce unless it still had the indentations from the can it came out of, so I was pretty blown away the first time I tried making cranberry sauce on my own - what a difference! This year I made a batch of Spiced Red Wine Cranberry Sauce from Serious Eats, and split it up into smaller portions to freeze so I could pull it out as needed.

This quinoa salad takes a lot of its flavour from the Spiced Cranberry Sauce, but if making a recipe before making another recipe doesn't work for you, you can probably get away with using your ordinary canned cranberry sauce with a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and maple syrup or brown sugar. It won't quite be the same of course, but you will still have the essence of the dish. I also ended up using only half of the dressing in the salad - if you can't see yourself utilizing the leftovers then make a half batch of the dressing (it's really good on just about anything though).

I had originally planned to use feta in the salad, but after I started making it I realized I didn't have any more feta in the fridge. The cheddar is still great, but feta would be amazing, in my humble opinion. Feel free to substitute accordingly.

Turkey Quinoa Salad

Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 cups cooked turkey, cubed
• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 2 cups turkey or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 1/3 cup white cheddar in very small cubes (or crumbled feta!)
• 1/2 bunch fresh spinach, chopped with stems removed

Cranberry Dressing

• 2 heaping tablespoons Spiced Red Wine Cranberry Sauce
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add quinoa and stock to a small pot and bring to a covered simmer for 10-12 minutes, then turn off the burner and allow the residual heat to continue cooking the quinoa for an additional 4-7 minutes until desired firmness is acquired. Allow the quinoa to cool, and combine with the turkey, walnuts, white cheddar or feta, and spinach. In a small mason jar combine dressing ingredients and shake well. Pour half of the dressing onto the quinoa mixture and stir well. Serve.


Step-by-Step Photos

Any time I have tried to roast a whole bird, it goes terribly. And given that I'm not a huge fan of white meat anyways, I went and bought a couple of turkey thighs and it was the best idea. I rubbed these down with some olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and dried sage and baked at 375F for about an hour. One thigh gave me my two cups of turkey for the salad, and after deboning the meat, I made stock with the leftovers - it was enough for the recipe and I had enough left in the freezer for a future meal! But if you already have turkey leftovers or are crunched for time, prepared chicken stock is more than acceptable to use as well.

Bring the quinoa and stock to a covered simmer for 10-12 minutes, then allow the residual heat to finish cooking it. Once it's done, fluff it with a fork and set aside to cool.

If needed, toast the walnuts in a small pan on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Combine the turkey, spinach, walnuts, and white cheddar in a large bowl with the quinoa.

Combine the cranberry sauce, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a mason jar. Shake well to combine. (Doesn't it turn a pretty colour!?)

Add the dressing, and stir well to combine.

Serve and enjoy! This salad will keep in the fridge for at least a couple days - if it lasts that long!