Quinoa salad- (pronouced Keen-wa)

Quinoa (keen-wa) is all the rage these days.  I've always thought it was great, but have never really gotten into making it that much.  Its super high in protein, is a seed, but you can prepare it like a grain. It cooks just like rice, so is easy to prepare.

My daughter Jenny makes Quinoa lots of ways and serves it to her boys.  I have seen it with pesto mixed in....... made like macaroni and cheese..... mixed with beans......anything you can do with rice or pasta, you can do with quinoa. 

Quinoa is perfect for anyone with alergies to wheat........its gluten free, high in fibre and lower in carbs, than most grains.

I had a ripe avacado, lemons, my own heirloom tomatoes and some spinach.... so here's what I came up with.
 Quinoa salad recipe: 

Ingredients:

1/2 C. dry quinoa

1 c  broth or water

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

2 tomatoes cut up

1 avocado diced

2 c fresh spinach

1 bunch cilantro

2 small cloves garlic

1 c frozen corn, thawed.

2 green onion, diced

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

 1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar or any type of syrup or honey

1/2 tsp. cumin

dash of salt and pepper

Bring the broth and Quinoa to a boil, then reduce to simmer, covered, for 15 mins.

In a food processor, add the cilantro, spinach, garlic, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, cumin, sugar, salt and pepper and chop until all blended.

 Meanwhile the quinoa should be done.  Remove the lid and allow to cool down.

In a large bowl mix together the rinced beans, tomato, avacado, corn  and onions

 This is what the quinoa looks like........it has little shoots poking out and is translucent.

This is where I decided that the recipe needed corn.  If I had red bell pepper I would have added it too.

Quickest way to thaw frozen corn is in a collendar, under warm running water.

 Mix in the quinoa and dressing.  Cover and refrigerate until cooled down.

I ate this as a complete meal, since it has all the necessary nutrition for a full meal.

So this was my adventure in food today.........discovering Quinoa.
Garbonzo beans (chick peas), kidney beans or any type of bean would be fine.
You could try fresh basil or parsely instead of the cilantro.