Mexican-Inspired Quinoa Salad

 

A friend of mine, Marissa inspired me to make this salad. I changed the quantities a little and played around the seasoning, but it was one tasty salad! I’m making it again this Friday, I can’t wait.

It’s an all-in-one meal – you have quinoa, beans, green peppers, tomatoes and avocado tossed together with fresh coriander (cilantro), cumin and lime juice. What’s not to like? I normally use black beans, but on this occasion, I used chickpeas (garbanzo beans).

As I’ve noted before, we’re pretty big eaters, the following recipe feeds just the 2 of us, however, I’m pretty sure it can easily feed 6 people!

 

MEXICAN-INSPIRED QUINOA SALAD

Serves 6

 

Ingredients

• 150 g (¾ c) red/white quinoa, cooked and cooled
• 2 large green peppers, de-stalked, seeded, diced
• 2 ripe medium avocados, skinned, stoned, diced
• 2 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
• 1 x 400g (14 oz) tin black beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 spring (green) onions, finely sliced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 lime, juice only
• 1 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Dried oregano, to taste
• Ground cumin, to taste
• Dried/fresh jalapeno peppers, finely chopped, to taste
• Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

 

Method

1. Place the quinoa, peppers, avocados, tomatoes, beans, spring (green) onions into a very large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients – olive oil, lime juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, jalapeno, coriander (cilantro) and season to taste.

3. Gently toss the salad with the dressing, adjust the seasoning if required and serve, enjoy!