Southwestern Quinoa Salad

By Wendy Polisi on July 2010

While the boys were in the pool today, I decided to throw together a quinoa salad. It is hot here today, (103 on its way to 110…yikes…It may be a dry heat but it is still hotter than h*ll) and the idea of something cool sounded good. I usually don’t hesitate to jump in the car and go to the store, but the heat is really bugging me today, so I decided to use ingredients I had on hand.

The results were surprisingly good. I think this is going to go in my regular rotation of quinoa recipes. Even my husband (who hates it when I make dishes that are vegetarian) liked it. I actually used balsamic vinegar because that is what I had on hand, but I think that red wine vinegar probably would have allowed the flavors to come out a little more.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

3 cups of water
Chicken Bouillon cube (or vegetable)
1 ½ cups of quinoa, rinsed
½ tsp sea salt
Juice from 3 Limes
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground chipotle chili powder (or cayenne)
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 can black beans, drained
½ cup fresh or frozen corn
½ red onion, diced
½ cup roasted red pepper, diced
1 T minced jalapenos
¼ cup cilantro
½ cup queso fresco (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot combine water and chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Add quinoa and salt and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and rinse quinoa and place in a fine metal sieve or fine colander. Bring a fresh pot of water to boil. Place quinoa in the sieve over it. Cover with a kitchen towel and lid. Steam for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile make the dressing by combining lime juice, cumin, chili powder, chipolte chili powder, vinegar, olive oil and garlic. (You can do this in a small bowl or in a blender)
4. In a separate bowl, combine black beans, corn, onion, red pepper, jalapenos and cilantro.
5. After quinoa cools, combine with black bean mixture. Stir in cheese if, desired.
6. Toss with dressing and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Isn’t cooking quinoa simple and fun? I have been trying to make more black bean recipes lately because I have been reading about how healthy they are, so I was happy to be able to use beans here. On a side note, I made this with red quinoa, but I would have been much prettier with white quinoa.