Quinoa, an ancient “grain” that’s actually an edible seed related to beets and spinach, makes a fantastic base for a salad. Its mild, nutty flavour lends itself well to soups, grainy breakfast cereals and anything in which you’d use rice or couscous. With a lighter, fluffier texture than most whole grains, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an excellent source of complete protein.With a lighter, fluffier texture than most whole grains, quinoa is also a rich source of protein.
Quinoa, Black Bean & Mango Salad
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 mango peeled and diced
- 1 small red or yellow pepper seeded and diced
- 2 cups packed baby spinach, torn or sliced
- 1/2 cup half 19-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 English cucumber chopped
- 2-3 green onions chopped, or 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine or white balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa well under cool water in fine sieve or in several changes of water. Drain well.
- In large pot of boiling salted water set over medium heat, cook quinoa until tender but still firm to bite, about 15 minutes. It’s done when germ separates, making it look like a curly Q.
- Drain well and return quinoa to pot off heat. Cover with tea towel and replace lid, allowing it to steam and producing fluffy quinoa as it cools.
- In large bowl, combine cooled quinoa, mango, pepper, spinach, black beans, cucumber and onions.
- To make dressing, combine canola oil, vinegar, honey, curry and cumin in jar or small bowl and shake or whisk to blend.
- Drizzle salad with dressing and toss until well coated.
- Source: Canola Info
Sure, it is a little stronger and darker of course, you can also try white wine vinegar.
Can regular balsamic vinegar or regular vinegar be used instead of white balsamic vinegar. What other substitute would you recommend?
I have already made this recipe three times and absolutely love it! It not only tastes great but is easy to make, and very healthy.
I think any of them would work well, but probably the red kidney beans would be my choice.
Hi
I cant find black beans can I use butter beans or red kidney beans, what about Garbanzo beans?
Regards
Jo-Anne
This looks great. I bet it would be great with poached salmon.