Southwest Quinoa Salad

By TrayH

How beautiful does this dish look! I almost hated to eat it! (ALMOST) It's super simple to make and incredibly delicious! It's also lite and healthy. In my opinion, it's the perfect Summer dish.

Ingredients

• For Salad:
• 2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 Lb grilled chicken, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, semi thawed
• 2 Hass avocados
• For Dressing:
• 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 3 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• Whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Details

Adapted from dishingwithleslie.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

* Cook quinoa according to package directions.

* Add the Better Than Boullion and 1/4 tsp cumin to the boiling water.

** I like to use Ancient Harvest Brand quinoa because it's pre-washed.


* When quinoa is ready, fluff it with a fork and turn it out into a large bowl to cool.

* While quinoa is cooling, chop your bell pepper, green onion, cilantro, and chicken.

* Add all chopped ingredients along with your corn and black beans to a large salad bowl.

* Gently mix in the cooled quinoa.

* Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.

* Refrigerate for an hour so that all the flavors have time to meld.

* Right before serving, chop your avocado and gently fold in to salad.

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** NOTE: I like to add my avocado to each individual dish I serve from the main bowl of this salad. That way you can enjoy the leftovers throughout the week without any brown avocado chunks in there. Enjoy!