Southwestern Rainbow Quinoa Salad
Southwestern Mango-Black Bean-Veggie Packed Quinoa Salad
This fantastic, flavorful salad is loaded with nutrients and packed with veggies. Even the biggest salad skeptic will enjoy it. If they are reluctant to try it, try my mom’s trick and say, “one bite; if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.” They’ll not only ask for another bite, they’ll ask for a second helping.
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, red or tri-color
2 cups liquid (chicken broth, vegetable stock or water)
1/4 tsp salt
15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
1 fresh mango, cut to a large dice
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and cut to a very fine dice or minced
1 1/2 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I like O California Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 garlic cloves minced (for a knife skills refresher, watch my How to Mince Garlic Video or check out the step-by-step visual guide, or, for a quick hack, try the garlic zoom)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
Directions
Measure out 1 cup quinoa
To cook the rainbow quinoa, first rinse it thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear. Quinoa has a natural coating, called saponin, that can make the cooked grain taste bitter or soapy. Luckily, it’s easy to get rid of this coating by rinsing the quinoa just before cooking. Boxed quinoa is often pre-rinsed, but it doesn’t hurt to give the seeds an additional rinse at home.
3. Add 1 3/4 cups liquid (water, chicken or vegetable broth) for every cup of quinoa; 1 cup of dry quinoa One cup dry quinoa yields about three cups cooked quinoa. Let cook for 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed
4. When the quinoa is cooked, fuff with a fork. Set aside.
5. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients for the quinoa salad.
6. Rinse and drain black beans
7. Measure out corn
8. Dice pepper
9. Cut mango to a small to medium dice.
10. Carefully mice the jalapeno (gloves recommended; as you can see in the Make it With Me video., I wear them myself when working with peppers)
11. When are your ingredients are prepared, combine the quinoa, black beans, corn, red pepper, mango and jalapeño pepper into a large salad bowl
12. Combine the ingredients the dry ingredients and garlic into a bowl, slowly adding the olive oil, whisking as you pour.
12. Whisk until glossy then add to large salad bowl
13. Carefully fold dressing to the salad, mixing evenly with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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