Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Quick-cooking, high in protein, easy to digest, and with a superfood label to boot, it’s no wonder that quinoa’s (pronouced KEEN-wah) popularity has surged in recent years.  You can use it as a replacement for rice with stews, stir fries, or even better as the base for a filling, grain-based salad.

This quinoa salad is a toss together of black beans, fresh garden tomatoes, corn, red onions, cilantro, and lime. Yum! It will last for days chilled which makes it a great make-ahead salad for picnics and gatherings. Enjoy.

Here is a tip:You can toss in scallions, peppers, nuts or any fruits like mango or mandarin oranges for garnishing, the point is you can never go wrong in a salad dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup soup stock or water

1/4 Cup quinoa, well rinsed

1/2 tsp cumin

2 Tbls lemon juice

1/4 Cup soup stock

2 Tbls minced cilantro

1/2 Cup cooked black beans

1 Cup fresh corn kernels (2 ears)

1 medium medium tomato, diced

2 Tbls chopped red onion

Instructions:

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the liquid, quinoa, and cumin to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low; cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Remove from the heat and uncover. In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, stock, cilantro, beans, corn, tomato, onion, and cooked quinoa, and stir well.

Chill at least 2 hours, and serve as is or over a bed of lettuce.