Friday, June 26, 2009

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

So here's an easy new salad I cooked up today. I've been wanting to find a good recipe with quinoa for a little while now, a challenge since Zips is entirely ambivalent to the wonder grain. We were planning on having a taco night tonight, so I modified this black bean ensemble (originally called "Bean-Wah Salad" like Quinoa: "Keen-Wah." Get it?) The original recipe called for a lemon instead of a lime, and only 1/4 c. of quinoa, which I doubled, then quadrupled since it didn't seem very quinoa-y, and was also too mushy with dressing. So here's my adapted version:

1 c. quinoa
2 c. vegetable broth
Simmer the quinoa in the broth until tender, and most of the broth has been absorbed. I had to add a little water at the end.

While that's simmerin', combine:
1 c. corn
1 can black beans
1 diced tomato
2 green onions, chopped
2 Tb. cilantro, chopped

In a separate bowl, combine:
juice of 1 lime
2 Tb. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
pinch of salt

Once the quinoa cools off a bit, throw them all together and mix well. Despite her ambivalence toward the mother of all grains, since Zips' favorite spices are cumin and chili powder, she proclaimed this "freakin' delicious." I am well pleased.
We had it as a side to the tacos. In the future, we decided it could totally stand alone in a soft corn tortilla with a little lettuce (top photo). And since quinoa and the black beans are both good protein sources, it'd make a great lunch option. MMmmmmm.

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