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.

Hot German Potato Salad

I'm not a big fan of potato salad with mayonnaise, so was very excited to find this variation made with vinegar.

4 cups hot, cooked diced potatoes
6 slices bacon
1 small onion
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp dry mustard
pepper to taste

Fry bacon til crispy, then crumble.Fry onion in bacon fat. Stir in flour, then add vinegar and water. Stir until thickened. Add seasonings and pour over hot potatoes. Serve warm.

I like this when its cooled down, too, but not refrigerated. You can substitute red wine vinegar for the balsamic for a milder taste.

Spinach salad

Now that summer is here, I am finding I'm more in the mood for lighter food. Throw some meat on the BBQ, toss a quick salad together, a loaf of bread and I'm good to go. Followed by ice cream in a cone!

I'm not big on salads in general. I get tired of eating all those greens and still feel hungry when its gone, but this is a nice side salad that some people might like as a meal.

It's pretty simple, you just take some spinach and add tomato, avocado, cashews and dried cranberries. I sometimes put mandarin oranges and/or blueberries in it, too. Then a nice oil-and-balsalmic vinegar dressing (poppyseed is good, too).

Salads don't really need a recipe, do they? Just throw some stuff together!