The first thing I had to figure out was, what exactly is quinoa?
And where would one find it in the grocery store?
This is the organic quinoa that I purchased. It seems to be most like rice - it is a grain. Very tiny small beads that are near impossible to strain without losing a lot of them when you rinse! Tip - FINE MESH SIEVE! You can find quinoa in the rice/grain isle, some times the pasta isle. If you have any trouble - ASK!
Here is a close up of what it looks like precooked.
While the quinoa was boiling with cumin, I used fresh lemon and cilantro with olive oil to whisk up the dressing.
Chop up one roma tomato and a little bit of red onion....
Here is the cooked quinoa
And a close up of the cooked quinoa
I added black beans and corn, tossed it all together, and Wha-lah - -
Southwestern Quinoa Salad
This was really really good!! I'm glad I tried something new!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted, or 1 tsp ground cumin
- High-heat cooking oil (such as sunflower, safflower, peanut or grape seed oil), as needed to lightly coat grill grate
- 2 cobs fresh corn, husks and silk removed (or 1 1/4 cups frozen corn, thawed)
- 1 cup cooked black beans, drained
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- 1 zucchini or yellow zucchini squash, diced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper; set aside.
- In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil; add quinoa and cumin. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat an outdoor grill to medium-high and lightly oil grate with cooking oil. Add corn, close lid and grill, turning once, until tender and lightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, boil cobs in a large pot of simmering water. Cover and cook until tender, 6 to 10 minutes.) Let corn cool, then cut kernels from cob.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, corn kernels, beans, tomato, zucchini and onion. Pour lemon-cilantro dressing over top and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate salad for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld, or up to 2 days.
Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 221, Total Fat: 11 g, Sat. Fat: 1.5 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g, Carbs: 26 g, Fiber: 4.5 g, Sugars: 2 g, Protein: 6 g, Sodium: 23 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg
