Southwest Quinoa Salad

I am horrible at posting, obviously, but I finally have some inspiration. I just finished experimenting with a couple of recipes for a Southwest inspired quinoa salad. Quinoa is a grain that is being touted as the next great thing and is pronounced "keen-wa". It is an ancient grain and has protein in it, so it's great for vegetarians/vegans. My recipe does have some sour cream, but it could be omitted if you don't do dairy. It also should be gluten free, but I'm no expert on that. I plan to serve it tonight with some leftover chicken.

Southwest Quinoa Salad


- 1 cup of quinoa, soaked and rinsed
- 1/3 cup frozen corn (or fresh off the cob)
- 1/3 cup canned black beans -rinsed
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 3 chopped green onions
- 3/4 cup chopped red, yellow and/or green peppers
- Sour cream-lime dressing
- one ripe avocado, chopped

Boil the quinoa with 2 cups of water for about 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Let sit in the pot for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. In a frying pan on high heat, heat the corn for 2-3 minutes to get it sort of "roasted", then lower the heat and add the black beans. When quinoa is ready, pour it into a bowl with the corn and beans, add the vegetables, dressing, and serve with chopped avocado (if you don’t mix it into the whole salad, the salad keeps better)

Sour cream-Lime Dressing

- juice of one lime
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely minced
- 2 tablespoonfuls of sour cream
- dash of ground chipotle pepper (or other hot pepper) –to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and mix with salad.