Mexican Quinoa Salad
This mexican style quinoa salad is loaded with flavours of fresh lime, cilantro, olive oil, black beans, corn, tomatoes, bell pepper. It is super easy to make, healthy and so delicious. It will become your family favourite
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa or 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 can black beans
- 1 cup corn canned or frozen and thawed
- 1 avocado Add extra one more Avacado if you like more protein.
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (chopped) Add 1/2 cup extra if you like more flavour from tomatoes.
- 1/2 cup bell pepper
- 1 small red onion 3/4 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup lime juice about 2 fresh limes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
Cook Quinoa
- If you already have 3 cups of cooked quinoa you can skip this step and use the cooked quinoa. Otherwise, follow this step. Cook quinoa: Rinse 1 cup quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and place it in a saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt into the pan. The ratio is one cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring the water and quinoa to boil on medium-high heat without the lid. When the entire surface of the water starts to boil, bubbly and foamy, stir it with a spatula or wooden spoon for any sticky grains. Turn the heat to medium-low. Make sure to put on a timer and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes check to see if all the water has been absorbed and the grain is tender, fluffy, and translucent. If there is no water at the bottom of the pan then turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the heat and cover the cooked quinoa. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Let it cool completely and set it aside.
Prepare Dressing
- Combine lime juice, 1/2 tsp salt, cumin powder, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl or measuring cup and whisk together.
Mix All Together
- In a large serving bowl combine the onion, tomatoes, corn, bell pepper, black beans, cooked quinoa, and fresh cilantro
- Drizzle the dressing that was prepared earlier. Toss all together until everything is mixed very well. Add 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper and add extra salt if needed. You can serve this salad right away but for best flavour let the salad rest for 10 minutes or longer.
- You can store this in the fridge up to 2 days. This quinoa salad doesn’t stay fresh in the fridge longer since the avocado will turn in to brown and the tomatoes become soggy.