I'm obsessed with the apple almond quinoa salad from Whole Foods. So instead of going to the store and buying some last night like a normal person, I thought hey! I'll find out what the ingredients are and make it myself.

I didn't think I'd get it right on the first try, but what I came up with was pretty darn amazing. (And I may like it even better..?) The secrets are curry powder and honey. They go together, I promise.

I have to give a shoutout to Iowa Girl Eats for posting a picture of the Whole Foods ingredient card, which without, I would have been lost. She has a take on this recipe too, but hers involves sausage for any meat lovers out there. (But mine has curry and toasted almonds, so don't leave me quite yet.)

Thanks Iowa Girl Eats!

Whole Foods Apple Almond Quinoa Salad

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 apple (I used a honeycrisp)
1/4 cup toasted chopped almonds
2 tablespoons dried currants

Mix separately:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon curry powder (mine is from The Spice House)

I actually ended up using a combination of quinoa, millet and buckwheat for this recipe (365 Brand Super Grains mix).


Rinse the quinoa well in a fine strainer under cold water.


Bring two cups of water to a boil in a pot. Add 1 cup of rinsed grains, cover and simmer for 16-20 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.

While this was cooking, I decided to toast the chopped almonds, which was an excellent decision.  I had a bunch left over, which I spread out on parchment to cool and will use with other things.

Pretty sure this is how you toast nuts...

I just spread these on the parchment I had used for cooking my tilapa. I'm not that fancy. It was like 9:45pm by this point.

Combine about 1/4 cup of the almonds with 2 chopped green onions, 1 diced apple (anything that is in season is great right now!) and 2 tablespoons of dried currants. I'm sure you could also use dried cranberries or cherries instead too.



Figuring out the dressing was the fun part. I didn't think this would be enough at first, but it was perfect. I also actually measured out what I used this time instead of eyeballing everything (!). I'm learning. You're welcome.

Combine 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp honey and the juice of half a lemon in a small bowl. Mix in curry powder and a little salt and pepper.

Once the quinoa has cooled down a bit, add it with the other ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss with dressing. Serve warm (maybe that's why this was so unbelievably good).




Hello fall.

So here is the fun question - was this, all ingredients involved cheaper than buying the Whoods quinoa? I think so. I had almost all of the ingredients already, and this definitely allows you to make a big batch. I ate a ton of it and still have lots leftover. Plus the toasted almonds are dance your pants off good.

Now if I can just figure out how to make their cranberry tuna I will be all set. Thanks Whoods!
Follow me on Bloglovin!