I love carbs and cheese and sugary sweets just as much as the next girl. But believe it or not, my body craves light and healthy food from time to time. That doesn’t mean healthy = boring though! For me, a healthy dish should be pretty, delicious, and filling. And, my friend….that is precisely what we have here: Summer Quinoa Salad, that perfect dish where refreshing and scrumptious meets clean eats. And here’s the bonus, this recipe barely counts as cooking because everything is raw. With the exception of the quinoa, of course….which you should definitely cook. Unless you like hard and crunchy quinoa for some reason :)
Add quinoa and 1 1/2 cups of water to a pot. Cover and heat over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, until boiling. Once the water is fully boiling, lower heat to low, keeping covered for 12-13 minutes (or until all water is absorbed).
While waiting for quinoa to cook: wash, cut, and prep all the produce. Then mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl – whisk well.
When quinoa is done, add it to a large bowl. Stir around for a bit, then let cool for 10 minutes or so.
Once the quinoa is slightly cooled, add all the produce to the quinoa EXCEPT for the avocado (reserve that for later). Also add about half of the dressing.
Stir together gently until well combined. Give a taste, and add more dressing if you need more flavor. (I typically use about 3/4 of the dressing.)
Once the seasoning is right, add the avocado and fold gently into the quinoa to combine (being careful not to smash the avocado).
Clean eating never looked and tasted so good!
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
- 1/4 cup red onion, small dice
- 3/4 cup garbanzo beans, from a can - rinsed & drained
- 12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 small avocados, diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (1-2 limes)
- 1 Tablespoon agave
- 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Dash of cayenne (optional)
- Add quinoa and 1 1/2 cups of water to a pot. Cover and heat over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, until boiling. Once the water is fully boiling, lower heat to low, keeping covered for 12-13 minutes (or until all water is absorbed).
- While waiting for quinoa to cook: wash, cut, and prep all the produce. Then mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl - whisk well.
- When quinoa is done, add it to a large bowl. Stir around for a bit, then let cool for 10 minutes.
- Once the quinoa is slightly cooled, add all the produce to the quinoa EXCEPT for the avocado (reserve for later). Also add about half of the dressing.
- Stir everything together until well combined. Give a taste, and add more dressing if you need more flavor. I typically use about 3/4 of the dressing.
- Once the seasoning is right, add the avocado and fold gently into the quinoa to combine, being careful not to smash the avocado.
- Serve at room temp or slightly cooled.
- Tip #1: sub black beans if you don't like garbanzo beans.
- Tip #2: this recipe can easily doubled for a big party.
