Green Cuisine: Mexican Quinoa Salad

Photo credit: net_efekt on Flickr

My friend Kyna has been somewhat of a food inspiration to me recently. After a delicious vegetarian dinner at her house in the fall, I decided to take the plunge and cook vegetarian at home. This week, she whipped up a nice little quinoa salad for lunch and I was hooked. So tonight, I made this:

Mexican Quinoa Salad
-3 cups cooked quinoa
-1 can black beans, rinsed
-1 cup corn
-2 tomatoes, diced
-1 small red onion, diced
-1 avocado, diced
-Salt to taste

I also tossed together some local organic greens with locally made Natalie Robyn's cherry vinegarette dressing.

Quinoa took less than 15 minutes to cook. I usually make this dish with rice, which takes 45 minutes. Not only did this save time, that's a lot of cooktop energy saved. Another great thing about quinoa, it's a complete protein, making it a great addition to vegetarian dishes. I'm going to try to soak the seeds in water (for just 2-4 hours apparently) and let it sprout, boosting its nutritional value even more. Am I gushing about quinoa? Yes, it's true. And you will too.

It was a delicious meal, very satisfying and so easy. And it was completely plant based (and all organic). It feels good to feed my family something so pure. And with the oil spill weighing so heavily on my mind, it feels good to eat in a low impact way.

Here is what dinner looked like. Mmmgood.