As you know, I love cooking with quinoa, and I love spicy food. At the time, I didn’t look up the recipe, but it planted an idea in my head. I decided to make my own version. I’ve even posted a recipe for black bean and corn salad before (sans quinoa), but I didn’t look at that either.
This salad would be a perfect side dish for a Memorial Day or 4th of July barbecue (you can grill up some of my Tempeh Burgers and have a cruelty free Independence Day!). If you’re a “big salad” fan, you can do like Alan and I did and enjoy the salad as a one-dish meal.
Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 Serrano chili, seeded (optional)
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
pepper to taste
1 avocado, chopped
Directions
Prepare the quinoa according to package directions. Allow to cool, or chill for two hours. Combine the quinoa, beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, chili, and cilantro and toss. Squeeze the lime juice over the salad. Add the olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper and toss again lightly. Add the avocado last, tossing it in gently into the salad. Serve at room temperature, or allow the salad to chill for an hour.
Alan surprised me by having a second serving of this salad, and we both agreed it was a “keeper” (which means I must write the recipe down immediately, before I forget).
Because this recipe was inspired by another, even though I didn’t even look at the recipe before creating mine, I want to share the original recipe with you. Interestingly, Sylvia from Frolic through Life was inspired by a Whole Foods salad that she thought sounded tasty.
Are you having a 4th of July barbecue? Any other plans? With the holiday falling on a Wednesday, it keeps me closer to home. How about you?
Looks great! I love quinoa and black beans (and everything else you added!). Would have been a great addition to our Canada Day meal (July 1st).
Thanks for including that Seinfeld clip; one of my all time favs!
I love the internet. You can google “Big Salad” and come up with all kinds of clips. Just writing about this salad makes me want to go in and finish off the leftovers (what little there are)!
All my fav ingredients! There are so many variations to this salad that you can’t go wrong.
I agree! Sometimes I get in such a mood for this type of salad that it makes my mouth water.
Yummmy! I just had some quinoa for lunch! This looks tasty 🙂
I’m almost at the point where I put quinoa in everything! I just at the little bit of leftovers. It was yummy.
my question is, what brand of vegan cheese do you like? I tried some this week that tasted just awful, which I can handle the taste for the calories, but it had horrid side effects….wink, wink…..it’s called daily. so any new brand I may try once more!!
Was it Daiya? That’s what I use. Some people love it, others not so much. I like the taste and it melts. Never had a tummy problem and it’s pretty eady to find. Out here, Ralphs carries it, plus a few other stores. Whole Foods carries everything, but we don’t have one out here.
There are a couple other brands that are supposed to be good. Teese is one.
COME ONE OVER PLEASE!
🙂