Perfect Early Autumn Salad

Although "salad" is misleading because there are no greens!
This was easy, filling, and delicious.

Waldorf Quinoa Salad (hence renamed, "Emily's Favorite Tastes Like Fall Meal!"):

2 C quinoa (quinoa, just in case you don't know, which I didn't until I lived in South America where it is super popular, is a grain-like complete protein... think if rice and barley had a love child)
4 1/2 C chicken broth
2 large apples, chopped (I used red)
2 C red seedless grapes, halved (I didn't halve them. Started to and it took way too long. It worked fine with them whole)
1 C craisins
Dash salt
1 C sliced almonds, or walnuts if preferred
6 T lemon juice (sounds like a lot but it was perfect)
4 T olive oil
8 oz blue cheese crumbles, or less if you're not a fan

1. Rinse quinoa well.
2. Put quinoa and chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer until just cooked through, 20-25 minutes.
4. Fluff with a fork, cover, and let sit until cool* (*I didn't have time to let it cool and I actually liked it a lot with everything mixed in warm).
5. Mix in salt, apples, grapes, craisins, and almonds.
6. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil and toss to coat.
7. Sprinkle liberally with blue cheese crumbles and mix in if desired.

IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I made it for Ryan and Kendra on Tuesday and we all really liked it... and Kendra noted it was the first family dinner I'd cooked where I wasn't constantly listing all the things I was going to do differently next time :-).

The quinoa cooked in the chicken broth is great (I like it that way much better than cooked in water... after six months in Bolivia it's taken me some time to be able to eat much quinoa, which makes it an even bigger deal that I liked this so much).

The fruit makes it rich and flavorful (and gives it the fall taste). The almonds are yummy and add extra protein (the whole thing is super protein-y! yay energy!). And the blue cheese. OMG. If you are a blue cheese fan, this is a great dish. The quinoa makes it super filling... we ate it with French bread and Trader Joe's $2 Chardonnay :-).

Yum!