Quinoa salad with lemon dressing

Quinoa, of the white variety — how I wish I loved you more than I do.

You're healthy. And quick to cook. And pretty damn filling. Good good good!
But you're also pretty damn bland. With a less-than exciting texture. Booo booo.

Your cousin, red quinoa, now that's a different story (hubba hubba). It's hearty and nutty with a nice bite to its texture. But red quinoa isn't easy on the wallet, so I can't be cooking it up every week. Instead I keep coming back to you, insipid white quinoa.

But apparently if you add a ton of flavorful veggies and some lemony dressing to you you're delicious. And not the "you're-healthy-so-I'm-telling-myself-that-you're-delicious" delicious. The "honest-to-goodness-I-could-eat-you-every-day-for-lunch" delicious!

Which is exactly what I did! Make a big batch of the quinoa and pair it with some grilled chicken breasts and you've got yourself a healthy, flavorful, and filling meal. 

Yours in giving white quinoa a second chance,
Jacqueline

Quinoa Salad, adapated from Iowa Girl Eats
This salad keeps great all week long, so prep it on the weekend and have a healthy side dish or meal for days! 

And want some more ideas for quinoa? Check out this watermelon and feta salad and this Moroccan butternut squash stew with quinoa.

Ingredients
salad ingredients
3/4 cup quinoa, uncooked (or up to 1 cup for a more "quinoa-y" salad)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, or 1 bag of frozen corn, thawed
1/2 to 1 red, orange, or yellow pepper, diced
2-3 green onions, sliced (or you can substitute 1/4 cup red onion, chopped)
1 avocado, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper

lemon vinaigrette
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons worth)
1-2 small garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
salt and pepper
6 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. When it is completely cooled, add to a large bowl along with the rest of the salad ingredients.
2. Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a mason jar and shake, shake, shake.
3. Toss salad with vinaigrette.
4. Serve immediately or allow to chill in the refrigerator.