Southwestern Quinoa Salad

I've finally jumped on the Quinoa bandwagon. When we were shopping at Costco a couple of weeks ago, I saw an enormous bag of Quinoa and decided to purchase it to see what all the hype is about. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is all the rage in the food blogging world. I read up on it to share a little bit of info with you:

• Quinoa is an amino-acid rich seed
• It is a relative of spinach and swiss chard
• It includes all nine essential amino acids
• It is a good source of magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus
• It is gluten free

Basically, quinoa is extremely healthy and has a lot of health benefits. I am using it in my cooking as a substitute for rice or Cous Cous, but in my reading I found it is commonly used in soups. Please share with me your favorite way to use quinoa, as this is all new to me! 

I was browsing some of my favorite food blogs for ideas to use my quinoa and found this recipe for Black Bean and Bell Pepper Cous Cous Salad on Beantown Baker. I loved how Jen's salad uses so many of hubby and my favorite flavors: corn, black beans, cilantro, lime. Although Jen's salad uses Cous Cous, I substituted quinoa and added fresh sliced avocado on top. This salad was so filling and flavorsome. I loved the taste of  all the veggies with the zesty citrus dressing. The quinoa added a nutty, grainy taste and was a perfect addition. We ate it chilled for two days. It will be hard to find a more tasty use of quinoa!

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Adapted from Beantown Baker

Makes 8 Servings

Printable Version

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

8 green onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (my store was out so I used cilantro in a tube - great substitute)

1 cup corn (I used frozen corn kernels, thawed)

2 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to directions and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. 

Add green onions, red bell pepper, cilantro, corn, and beans and toss to coat.

Fluff the quinoa and break up any chunks. Add the quinoa to the bowl with the veggies and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.