Quinoa Salad w/ Black Beans & Corn

The other night, I made tacos but I totally switched up my recipe and made lime chicken tacos, rather than fatty ground beef.  I decided since I was switching up the tacos to a lighter version, I should also swap out the usual black beans & rice I generally partner up with tacos.  I knew I wanted to keep the black beans since they at least have some health benefits so I scoured the web for some recipes for black bean salads and stumbled upon several that were quinoa salads.  Since I love quinoa, I knew this was the winning combination.

I'm sure that you know what quinoa is, it has taken the world by storm over the past few years.  But just in case you have been say, under a rock here are a few things about quinoa you should know:

• It is pronounced "keen-wah".
• It is packed with protein, as a matter of fact, it is one of the most protein rich foods we can consume
• It is commonly mistaken for a grain but is actually closer to a seed
• It has tons of fiber
• It is believed to have an anti inflammatory effect (this is what originally turned me on to quinoa)
• It is delicious as a replacement for rice or grains and can be used in salads (hot or cold) and even desserts

So there is the lesson on quinoa, now on to the recipe.  I loosely followed a recipe I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I should mention that while I really enjoyed this (I even ate it for lunch alone the next day) I think it would have benefited from a squeeze of lime juice.  I think lime juice would really have made it pop so I would suggest it, but again, it was yummy as is, so do it or don't do it, you decide.

Quinoa Salad w/ Black Beans & Corn

PRINT RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 C uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 C vegetable stock (or chicken)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 can corn (sweet variety, drained)
• 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1/2 C cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook 4-5 minutes, add garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 1 minute.  
2. Stir the quinoa into the onion/garlic.  Pour stock over quinoa.  Add cayenne, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer and continue to simmer about 20 minutes until stock has absorbed)
3. Remove cover, stir in beans and corn and recover but remove from heat.  Allow to sit about 5 minutes to warm the beans and corn.  Stir in cilantro and serve.

  I do have to mention that these lime tacos I mentioned earlier, were awesome.  So if you are interested in a nice chicken taco, stay tuned, it will be coming over the next few days.