This recipe for Southwest Quinoa salad is a great side to dish, or can be used as a meal alone. It’s super easy to make and is a great dish to make for the family, yourself or to impress others at a party.
Fun facts about this salad:
- The olive oil is a healthy fat that helps your body better absorb the vitamins found in the vegetables.
- It is loaded with multiple healthy, disease fighting vegetables.
- It is loaded with vegetable protein, which comes from the beans and quinoa.
Did you know?
Quinoa is often coated with something called Saponin. This gives quinoa a bitter taste. It’s important to rinse quinoa before cooking, in order to remove the Saponin and prevent any bitter or odd flavors. I use a fine strainer called a seive. It has very fine holes which prevents the quinoa from going through the cracks, yet still allows you to wash it. I use a sieve similar to this.
Southwest Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 large red bell pepper (or 2 medium red bell peppers)
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1, 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Juice from 1 lime
Directions
- Rinse quinoa until water runs clear.
- Cook quinoa according to instructions on package. Set aside in large bowl to cool.
- Dice the tomatoes, scallions and red bell peppers.
- Add the diced tomatoes, scallions and peppers to the cooked and cooled quinoa.
- Add the drained and rinsed black beans.
- In a separate bowl, combine olive oil, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onions powder and lime juice. Mix well.
- Pour over quinoa mixture.
- Mix until salad is evenly coated.
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