Name: Southwest Quinoa Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 cup 170g uncooked Quinoa; 3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar; 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 3 Scallions (cleaned, ends removed and diced); 1 small Red Bell Pepper (diced); 1 cup Kidney Beans (rinsed and drained); 1/2 cup Sweet Corn (fresh or canned); 1 teaspoon Paprika; 1 teaspoon Cumin; 1/2 teaspoon Thyme (dried); Salt and Pepper to taste; a small bunch of Chives (optional, for garnish)

Out of all the salads I have made lately (Spicy Millet Salad, Sweet Potato Salad) #1 couldn’t get enough of this quinoa salad. Usually he and Hubbs aren’t big fans of quinoa. I have no idea why. It’s such a great and versatile whole grain. If you haven’t become best friends with quinoa it’s about time you have. I’ll just name a few reasons why:

1. Quinoa taste great even by itself. Millet not so much…
2. Out of all the other whole grains quinoa has one of the highest amounts of protein.

1 cup cooked quinoa has 8g of protein

vs.

Millet with 6g.

Barley with 4g

. Wild Rice with 7g.

Brown Rice with 5g.

White Rice with 4g.

Bulgur with 6g.

3. It is a complete protein meaning it contains all 8 essential amino acids. Check out this link to find out why amino acids are so important.

4. It’s gluten-free!

5. It’s a good source of calcium for all us vegans.

If that short list hasn’t convinced you to try some quinoa then this recipe might :)

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup (170g) uncooked Quinoa
3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Scallions (cleaned, ends removed and diced)
1 small Red Bell Pepper (diced)
1 cup Kidney Beans (rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup Sweet Corn (fresh or canned)
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Thyme (dried)
Salt and Pepper to taste
a small bunch of Chives (optional, for garnish)

Directions:

Rinse Quinoa to remove any bitterness.
Place uncooked Quinoa in 2 1/2 times the amount of boiling water (2 1/2 cups) and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
Fluff Quinoa with fork. Add vinegar and olive oil. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients.Mix well and serve cold.

Notes: 1) People tend to all cook quinoa differently. The way I have described above is how I’ve cooked quinoa perfect each time. However, if you have a different method that brings you the same result feel free to continue doing it your way :) 2) This salad is on the mild side since it is something #1 love to eat. I sometimes like to add a bit of cayenne pepper or hot sauce to liven it up a bit.

5 from 1 vote

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Course Gluten free, Vegan

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Author Vanessa @VeganFamilyRecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup 170g uncooked Quinoa
3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Scallions cleaned, ends removed and diced
1 small Red Bell Pepper diced
1 cup Kidney Beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Sweet Corn fresh or canned
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Thyme dried
Salt and Pepper to taste
a small bunch of Chives optional, for garnish

Instructions

Rinse Quinoa to remove any bitterness.
Place uncooked Quinoa in 2 1/2 times the amount of boiling water (2 1/2 cups) and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
Fluff Quinoa with fork. Add vinegar and olive oil. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients.Mix well and serve cold.

Recipe Notes

1) People tend to all cook quinoa differently. The way I have described above is how I've cooked quinoa perfect each time. However, if you have a different method that brings you the same result feel free to continue doing it your way :) 2) This salad is on the mild side since it is something #1 loves to eat. I sometimes like to add a bit of cayenne pepper or hot sauce to liven it up a bit.