Summer Quinoa Salad

Summer is almost upon us, and it's about that time when you start going to a lot of picnics and barbecues. Such events often require the contribution of a side dish, and let's just be honest. Most of those sides have mayonnaise, sugar or cheese in them.  Summer is a great season to take advantage of for losing weight because the weather is nice and it's easier to be outside and active.  You often drink more water because you're hot and water just hits the spot.  There's a tendency to buy (and hopefully eat) more fruits and vegetables because there's a good variety in season which means they taste delicious!  But then you go to a picnic and you eat fatty, sugary crap because it's there and it's easy (oh yeah, and it tastes so good), and you end up canceling out the good you've done.  Easy come, easy go, right?


Well, here's an opportunity to be the person who brings the healthy side dish and allows everyone to have another option besides the creamy, cheesy or otherwise gooey side dish.  And believe me, it is a tasty option!


Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp olive oil or other oil for cooking
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1 1/4 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (w/out sugar, preferred)
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp coriander


1 mango, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


How it's done:

Sauté onion and peppers in olive oil for about 5 minutes on med-high heat until soft and juicy.  Add quinoa, chicken stock, curry powder and coriander.  Allow to come to boiling and let boil for 5 minutes.  Then cover, lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is white and glassy.  Remove from heat and allow to cool fully. Set aside.


Mix cilantro and mango, and then store in fridge until quinoa mixture has cooled.  Drain and rinse black beans.


Once quinoa mixture has cooled, stir all remaining ingredients together.  Serve cold as a side salad.


Notes from the kitchen:
For the most part, I measure and cook by sight and feel versus exact measurements, so the recipe I've laid out is as exact as I could get it.  However, in this recipe, you have some leeway to change things up if you so choose.  The main thing to keep in mind is that if you add more quinoa, you will want to add a little more stock.  If you switch out the vegetables, as long as they create some juice while they sauté, you don't need to add stock.
As far as the spices go, you can add more or less according to taste.  If you add 4 tablespoons of cilantro instead of 3, it's not going to ruin the recipe.
You might have noticed that I suggested using half of a yellow pepper and half of a red pepper, so what do you do with the leftover halves?  Chop those up also and use them in an omelet the next morning!



Makes approximately 8 servings.