Author Notes: While pregnant with my little girl, I was on a quest to find a great quinoa
salad; after much tinkering, I came up with this. I love this salad because I usually have every ingredient on hand. If I don't have hazelnuts, I add almonds instead. No apples? Pears! No cranberries? Raisins! It's a fairly forgiving and flexible recipe. I recommend using good quality dried cranberries. Craisins work but they tend to turn the salad a pinkish hue after a few hours, and I find they're too sweet.

Quinoa Salad with Hazelnuts, Apple, and Dried Cranberries

Serves: 4 
Prep time: 45 min 
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients

• 1cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 1 1/2cups water, for quinoa
• 1tablespoon of olive oil
• 1small onion, finely diced
• 2stalks of celery, finely diced
• 1cup hazelnuts, toasted, de-skinned and chopped
• 1bunch (about 5 to 6) green onions, chopped (green parts only)
• 1/2cup dried cranberries, chopped * see note
• 1bunch flat leaf parsley, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
• 1gala apple (really, any kind of apple will do)
• 1large lemon, juiced
• Generous drizzle of any kind of oil (I like hazelnut)
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 325° F and toast your hazelnuts for about 7 to 10 minutes. Let them cool completely. You should begin to hear their skins crackle while cooling; this is a good sign!
2. Meanwhile, cook your quinoa. Importantly, rinse it well! Boil the water with a pinch of salt, and add your rinsed quinoa. Turn your stove down to medium-low and let it cook for roughly 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Fluff quinoa with a fork, and let it cool in the fridge.
3. Going back to the cooled, toasted hazelnuts; remove the skins. Chop the hazelnuts up, leaving them in large pieces.
4. Preheat a skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil and soften your finely chopped onion and celery. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Try not to brown them, 5 to 7 minutes on medium—low heat should do the trick. Set aside in a large salad bowl.
5. Rinse your parsley well and chop it finely followed by your dried cranberries and green onions. Add all this to the onion and celery mixture.
6. Core and dice the apple, put your apple chunks in the bowl with the other ingredients. Squeeze the entire lemon over the apple to season the salad and prevent the apple from turning brown.
7. Add your quinoa and hazelnuts to the mixture, drizzle with the oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Season with more lemon juice if you like.
8. Mix well and cool completely. Allow the flavors to meld for 20 minutes before serving!

https://food52.com/recipes/18012-quinoa-salad-with-hazelnuts-apple-and-dried-cranberries