Black Bean Quinoa Salad

I cannot remember where I found this recipe... but I've altered it a little and it's a regular meal in our house now. My husband has a high metabolism and this salad keeps him going at work!  The quinoa is the key ingredient!

Quinoa tips and facts

Quinoa Nutrition Facts

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

 FOR THE DRESSING:
5 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Salt
1 whole Garlic Clove, Finely Mined
¼ cups Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin, Or To Taste
⅓ cups Olive Oil
 ½ teaspoons Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

FOR THE SALAD:
 1-½ cup Red Quinoa (sold In Health Food Stores)
1 Tablespoon Table Salt, Add When Boiling Quinoa
 1 can (14 Oz. Can) Black Beans, Drained, Rinsed
1-½ cup Corn Kernels, Fresh (cut  From About 2 Large Ears)
1 cup Finely Chopped Colored Sweet Bell Peppers
1 whole Jalapeño Chilies, Seeded And Minced (wear Rubber Gloves)
 ¼ cups Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro
¼ cups Finely Chopped Green Onions


Preparation Instructions

For the dressing:
In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, salt, minced garlic, chopped cilantro, and cumin and add oil in a stream, whisking. Add pepper to taste. Set aside.

 For the salad:
In a large bowl wash quinoa in at least 5 changes of cold water, rubbing grains and letting them settle before pouring off most of water, until water runs clear. Drain in a large fine sieve.  In a medium size pot, add the table salt to 1-1/2 quarts of boiling water and cook quinoa 10 minutes. Prepare a colander with cheese cloth over it and drain the cooked quinoa into cheese cloth. Add 2 inches of water into the pot and bring water to boil. Place the quinoa (still in the colander or another small pan, so you have a double boiler effect), cover cooked quinoa with the cheesecloth and put a lid on your pot. Steam for an additional 10 minutes. Do not let quinoa touch the water. Fluff quinoa with a fork and cool.  Combine in a large mixing bowl the beans, corn, remaining vegetables, herbs, and cooled quinoa. Toss gently with the dressing. Can be prepared a day ahead for flavors to combine. Serve at room temperature.


I used thai red chili peppers instead of whatever jalepeno chilies they recommend.  I freeze a whole bunch of red thai chilies and then just use them as needed... they're easy to cut and remove the seeds while they're still frozen. I also used red pepper and no green onions and I used regular quinoa... not red quinoa.  I don't always rinse the quinoa before cooking it... it makes the salad a little stickier but it's still really good!