Red Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Corn, Revisited

I first blogged about this recipe one year ago. There was talk in my town of a delicious red quinoa salad recipe off the back of the Trader Joe's Red Quinoa box. I took one look at the recipe and knew it had the beginnings of a fantastic dish, but it didn't fit into my new found eating style as it was written. So I set out to remove the added oil and what resulted was worth making time and time again. It's no surprise that it's one of my first recipes to make as this summer's pot luck luck season is warming up. Just this weekend, Red Quinoa Salad is coming with me to two parties!

Red Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Corn

Printable Recipe

1 cup red quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth
1 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
2 cups roasted corn (I used the frozen bag from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 avocado cut into small pieces
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
½ cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 large bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Optional: lettuce of your choice

For the dressing, put all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend:
1/2 large bunch cilantro, washed and cut the stems off in one slice
juice of 1 orange
juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp agave syrup
1/2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
dash of Sea salt and pepper

Cook quinoa as directed on box with broth.

While the quinoa cooks (about 15 minutes), put beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion together in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss gently. Add the chopped cilantro and toss.

When the quinoa is cooked, set aside to cool. When it is cool, spread quinoa on a platter. Top with the bean and corn salad mixture.

Variation: serve on top of a large bed of lettuce.

The corn, black bean, tomato, avocado, cilantro mixture dressed with the tasty no-oil dressing would even stand alone as a winning dish.  It's that good!

I find it's best to layer the entire dish onto a large platter. First, lay down a bed of lettuce (romaine, spring mix or whatever you fancy). Next, pile on the cooked red quinoa. Finally, Top with the corn, tomato and bean mixture. The dressing will seep into the quinoa and lettuce creating the perfect amount of dressing.