When you first set your eyes on most recipes on this blog, it’s tempting to think that all the three of us sisters do is eat sweets! Make treats, eat treats, repeat, right? We probably eat more sweet stuff than we should, but we do eat real food.
This dish isn’t really sweet and it’s not even an entree that calls for a lot of sugar, but when I kept seeing similar quinoa recipes like this floating around online, I had to try my hand at one! Summer calls for some light recipes every once in a while, so I hope you won’t mind I share one!
If you’re looking for a fairly easy vegan dish, this was a fantastic summer dinner. Served with chips and some added spinach, it was healthy and filling. This recipe has lots of lime added, so it did have some slightly sweet undertones to the flavor, especially combined with the tomatoes and avocado. I love that with the quinoa, beans and spinach you get a major protein boost plus lots of nutrients with the healthy veggies! If you don’t have something I used, feel free to sub it out and customize it to what you have on hand. It’s simple, light and you’ll be happy to add so much color to you plate!
Mexican Quinoa Salad (vegan and gluten free)
Print Recipe (adapted from a variety of recipes)
1 cup Quinoa
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups Water
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
1 can Black Beans
1 large diced Avocado
1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup Corn
1/4 cup Chopped Onion
1/4 cup Chopped Spinach
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
Lime Dressing:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Lime
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
Sea or Pink Salt, to taste
Dash lemon pepper
In a medium sized sauce pan, combine the olive oil, quinoa and water. Stir the mixture, cover and simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes.While the quinoa is simmering, start washing and cutting all the vegetables. Check the quinoa at about 18 minutes, then add the lime juice, salt and pepper and garlic and slightly stir to combine. Allow the quinoa to finish cooking as needed and prepare the rest of your ingredients and dressing.
In a small bowl, zest half of your lime. Add the olive oil and lime juice and whisk until combined. Add the cumin, sea salt and lemon pepper.
When the quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork. Pour it in a large bowl, add all the other ingredients and lime dressing and toss to combine. Serve hot or cold with natural tortilla chips!
Serve 5-6
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Mengqi Shi says
I bumped into your blog today and am really loving it. I have recently got into making healthy and delicious food for myself. I want to make dishes that’s easy, quick, yet still has its distinct flavors. Have been browsing many recipe blogs online but so far yours satisfies my needs most!! I love all your salad recipes. You don’t just use the lemon vinaigrette as a solution for all, but really try to be creative with ingredients. And everything your recipes call for is usually available to me in my kitchen already, not some fancy ingredients that you use once and forget about it. Anyway, thank you for your amazing blog! Please keep them going!!
Natural Sweet Recipes says
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so glad you found me and I hope you enjoy the recipes!