Fiesta Quinoa Salad

During the week Dillon and I are both super short on time. I take on more side work than I know what to do with outside of my 8-5 job and he spends almost 2 hours of his day in the car commuting. So when it’s time to plan our weekday meals, I have a little checklist I try to live by. A) Quick to throw together. B) Keeps well for leftovers. & C) Calls for avocado. Avocado everything, always. #important

Luckily, this salad meets all of the above requirements and is a regular in our dinner rotation. I absolutely love quinoa salads because they give you that satisfying feeling of carb indulging without the guilt associated with it. This works perfectly on its own for lunches or as a side dish to bring to a party. When I make it for dinner, I’ll usually throw together some taco seasoned ground turkey to pair with it for added protein. Vegetarians reading? Tempeh would be great with this also 🙂 Either way, this salad is pretty, healthy, and SO easy. I’m all about it. I hope you are too!

FIESTA QUINOA SALAD- SERVES 4-6

For the Salad:
1 cup quinoa
2 avocados
1 red onion
2 roma tomatoes
1 16 oz. can black beans
1 16 oz. can corn
1 poblano pepper
1 bunch of cilantro
½ cup green onion

For the Dressing:
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons cumin
3 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad: Strain canned black beans and corn and set aside. Next, chop the red onion, poblano, avocados, and tomatoes into small cubes. Finely chop the cilantro and green onions.

Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to the instructions on package (standard rule is 2 cups boiling water to 1 cup quinoa). Mix quinoa and all other ingredients from previous step together in a large bowl.

For the Dressing: Add olive oil, water, sugar, honey, cumin, ground red pepper, and garlic powder to a bowl. Squeeze in the juice of two limes and whisk until everything is combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

That’s it! Easy enough, right? A couple of extra notes:

• If you’re bringing this to a party, I would suggest mixing the dressing in with the salad to make it easier for guests.
• If you’re just making it for a meal at home with your own crew, I think keeping the dressing on the side is a better option. That will allow you to throw it in the fridge for leftovers without getting soggy.
• This recipe is vegetarian friendly, but I know many of our vegan friends don’t do honey. Replacing the honey in the dressing with agave nectar is equally as tasty!
• In apartment 3A, we are firm believers that hot sauce makes everything better. If you feel the same, I think that Valentina pairs great with these flavors.
• Lastly, margaritas are optional, but always encouraged 😉

If you try this one out, let me know how it goes! I’m pretty confident that it will be added to you dinner rotation soon too. Enjoy!

Xo Amanda