Southwest Quinoa Salad

Everything about this salad just tastes so fresh. I am pretty big on texture, and just love how each bite of this has so much to offer in that department. It comes together pretty quickly, too - you can get all of the veggies chopped up before the quinoa is finished cooking, and it's great hot or cold, which makes it a breeze to pack for a lunch at work.

Like most of my vegetable-based recipes, I only happened to have chicken base on hand (I need to find a good vegetable-but-no-mushrooms one to keep in the house), so to make this recipe vegetarian or vegan use vegetable broth/stock/bullion, or just use water and add a bit of extra salt. There are enough spices involved that you shouldn't miss out too much. I am addicted to the chipotle powder I used in the Black Bean Burritos waaay back in one of the first posts of this blog, but if you can't substitute with a chipotle chilli in abdo sauce, just omit that or add a dash of cayenne pepper for some heat. also cooked my quinoa in my rice cooker and have had no concerns with it (just set and walk away! Easy!).

Southwest Quinoa Salad
Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 6+

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked quinoa (I used 2 scoops for my rice cooker)
• 1 teaspoon chicken or vegetable soup base
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder (not cayenne pepper!)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 bell pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt, to taste

Directions
Cook quinoa per package instructions if required. If cooking quinoa, add chicken or vegetable base plus all dry seasonings to quinoa to cook with the seasonings. Prepare all added vegetables and black beans, finely chop the cilantro, and combine in a bowl. Add cooked and cooled quinoa to mixture and mix well to combine. Mix olive oil and lime juice together (add dry spices here if quinoa is already cooked and spices could not be added then), and drizzle over salad and combine well. Salt to taste. Serve.

Step-by-Step Photos

Cook the quinoa with soup base and seasonings. I used my rice cooker, which did a wonderful job. You could also cook the quinoa on the stove with a pot per package directions.

Once the quinoa is cooked, give it a good stir to fluff it up and set it aside to cool.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Combine in a large bowl with the cooked and cooled quinoa and the black beans.

Combine the olive oil and lime juice in a small jar or container and pour over the salad.

Stir well to incorporate the dressing, and salt to taste. This will keep well in the fridge for a few days, and can be eaten straight out of the fridge or heated up depending on preference. I usually eat it cold.

Serve.