It’s a recipe Friday ya’ll!
I hope you had a splendid week and are looking forward to the weekend!
This recipe came to be after I took a look in the pantry and realized I had a whole lot of quinoa to use up over the next 10 days before I move. And then after a little bit of thought I realized why I have so much quinoa hanging around.
I really don’t like this totally-good-for-you-complete-protein-superfood.
I think it’s a texture thing and it really just doesn’t do anything for me. I’d rather eat potatoes or pasta or bread or something.
But if you add lots of tasty things to the quinoa and throw on a dressing with some flava…
Well, I can get down with that.
On Wednesday I needed to make something to bring to a cookout my community group at church was throwing for me. They’re the best, really, and I can’t imagine my life here without these sweet friends that are actually family. I will miss them so much and my heart is sad when I think about leaving, but I know we will stay close and there are so many incredible people to meet in NYC!
But, back to the quinoa!
I had a can of black beans, so I went the mexican route and a star was born.
This quinoa salad is light and refreshing, perfect for a summertime bbq, and is great to make ahead and pack for lunches all week!
I kept the dressing separate and poured it on right before serving so the quinoa doesn’t soak up all the dressing if it sits too long. And I can’t say enough about this dressing. It would be perfect on salad, a mexican pasta salad or even tacos!
If you don’t have quinoa, feel free to use any grain you like! Orzo would be fantastic or even barley or brown rice. I sliced up some avocado right before serving it and it added the perfect creamy touch.
If you don’t have mango, I think pineapple would be pretty tasty too. I used frozen corn but I can only imagine how much better this would be with sweet August corn…one thing we were never short of during an Indiana summer.
So for all the quinoa wannabe lovers, this salad is for you.
Black Bean Mango Quinoa Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette [serves 4-6]
1 1/2 cups dry quinoa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed [or 2 cups cooked]
1 mango, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups of corn [fresh or frozen]
1 cup scallions, diced
sea salt to taste
for the dressing
1/3 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
In a sauce pan, combine quinoa with 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and let quinoa cook for about 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Let quinoa cool to room temperature.
Next, add in the beans, mango, red pepper, corn, and scallions to the quinoa. Salt to taste.
Then, add in all the ingredients for the dressing into your food processor and let it whirl until thoroughly blended. Pour dressing over salad right before serving.
promotion skill! i assume fascinating promotional replica
is the most imperative cleverness that one can become skilled at. thanks a lot! resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me! i will post a link to this page on my blog. i am sure