Today, I am absolutely thrilled to bring you this amazing quinoa mango salad, which was generously shared with us by Emily, a reader. It is (hopefully) the first of many reader recipes that I will be able to share with you and to me is a sign of great things to come around there.

The responses to the survey have quite simply been overwhelming. I am so touched that so many of you have taken the time to give me your feedback. Based on what I’ve already been able to go through, here are some things I’m working on.

• Share a recipe is now live!  You can share your recipes with or without a photo by clicking on the link in the navigation menu.
• Forum is in the works.  This will be a great place you can share ideas and chat with other readers who are dealing with similar issues (food allergies, weight loss, etc).  Once it is up and live I will be using t to answer all of the questions I’ve gotten from the surveys.
• Improved search function.  One of the most glaring things that came out of the survey is something that to be honest I feel silly for not realizing.  The website is indeed difficult to search.  We will be adding improved categories, search functions that will allow you to search by multiple terms (i.e. vegan + gluten free) and a recipe index. (There is already a simple search that is live.)
• In recipe posts I will be giving more alternatives to meet the needs of those with food allergies, as well as more common substitutions for ingredients.
• While the majority of you said that you like getting recipes near daily, some of you said that while you enjoyed them this was just too often to meet your needs.  Because of this we will be working on a function that allows you to opt for weekly emails.
• The vast majority of you were interested in hearing about things other than quinoa, but I’m still trying to figure out what this is going to look like.  Some said they preferred to just hear about quinoa and health, while others wanted different types of recipes as well.  At this point I’m not sure if another website is in order or if there is a great way to respect those who want to come to Cooking Quinoa and hear about just quinoa (which I totally respect) and mine and many of your desires for me to share more.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

And now, on to our very first reader recipe…and a super special thank you to Emily!

Recipe adapted from Whole Foods.

• Print

  Quinoa Mango Salad

  Rating: 51

  Prep Time: 10 minutes

  Cook Time: 20 minutes

  Total Time: 30 minutes

  Yield: 6 servings

  Serving Size: 243g

  Calories per serving: 257

  Fat per serving: 10.3

  

  Why soak the almonds, you ask? Almonds (as well as many other nuts and seeds) contain an enzyme-inhibiting substance which makes them difficult to digest and prevents our bodies from absorbing the nutrients. Soaking removes these substances and maximizes their nutritive value.

  Ingredients

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 c. frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
  • 1 small/medium mango, peeled and diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1/2 jalapeno, finely diced (or more if you like it spicy)
  • 1/3 c. red onion, finely diced
  • 1 medium cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced (with peel on, if unwaxed)
  • 1/3 c. chopped almonds (better if you can soak them in water 8 hours first, then rinse and drain)
  • 1/3 c. chopped/shaved unsweetened coconut
  • 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 c. fresh squeezed lime juice (or 2/3 c. if you like more lime flavor)
  • 1 tsp. grated lime zest
  • 1 tsp. brown rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt

  Instructions

  1. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and drain thoroughly. Place in pot with water and sea salt. Simmer covered for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and spiral "tails" pop out. Set aside to cool.
  2. Heat another small pot of water to boiling. Add edamame. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand in the hot water for another 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
  3. While the quinoa is cooking, chop the following and put into a large bowl: mango, red pepper, jalapeno, red onion, cucumber, chopped almonds, coconut and cilantro.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together lime juice, lime zest, brown rice vinegar, cayenne and sea salt.
  5. Mix everything together in a large bowl. I think it tastes best at room temperature or slightly chilled.

  Notes

  Carbohydrates 33.4, Protein 9.9, Fiber 6, Cholesterol 0, Sodium 324

  Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

  2.2

  http://www.cookingquinoa.net/quinoa-mango-salad

Tagged as: Quinoa Salad