THIS is your new salad. I'm telling you- switch up your old lettuce and ranch salad for this flavorful, colorful, full of life and healthy goodness Quinoa Salad with Black Beans. Once you try this you will never go back.
WHAT IS QUINOA?
Quinoa is a seed! When cooked just right it turns into fluffy little balls of amazingness. Quinoa is low-carb, high in protein, high in iron, potassium and calcium. It's also gluten-free! It's such a healthy alternative to a lot of starches. Add it to salads or eat on its own. I prefer to add it to ANY salad or bowl of fresh veggies.
HOW TO COOK QUINOA
I'll include basic instructions here, but for more info and details, or directions for stove-top quinoa check out this post here.
INSTANT POT QUINOA
- Rinse quinoa with water
- In your instant add a few tbs of oil and swirl around
- add in your broth and quinoa
- cook for 1 min and 4-10 min natural release. Then quick release, fluff and let cool.
INGREDIENTS FOR RAINBOW QUINOA SALAD WITH BLACK BEANS
To make this quinoa you need a variety of fresh veggies. This combination is killer delicious!
- sweet bell pepper- sweet crunch
- red onion- deeper flavor
- celery
- cucumbers- fresh flavor
- avocado- add creamy texture
- feta- adds a salty flavor
- black beans- adds more texture
- lime-ties everything together
WHAT CAN I SUBSTITUE?
I myself am not a big bell pepper fan but can down an entire enormous bowl of this salad. The combination of these vegetables plus addition of the lime brings all the flavors together really nicely. You are not left feeling like you just ate a raw bell pepper I promise! But if you need some ideas of other veggies to sub try these... however, I would encourage you to keep a little bell pepper in there, the reds are the sweetest.
- onion- try chives or green onions. or onion salt
- orange bell- carrots
- yellow bell-corn
- feta- fresh mozzarella
CHOP ALL YOUR VEGGIES
These are a lot of veggies to slice up. To cut down on time and save you hands from a lot of chopping I highly recommend investing in an onion chopper. Literally will take you about a minute to chop them up. We talk about this gadget a lot on here and instagram, it is a staple in our house.
CAN I ADD MORE OR LESS OF ONE INGREDIENT?
YES! Of course! If you have a favorite then add more of that baby in!! I personally like to add loads of cucumber. This salad is about you ;) make it yours and how you like!
LET THE RAINBOW QUINOA SALAD MARRY
This salad is better if you let the ingredients marry together. This means stirring everything together and letting it sit. The variety of flavors will mix and infuse with each other to create a truly unique deep flavor
IS THIS QUINOA SALAD WITH BLACK BEANS HEALTHY?
YES! This salad is full of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. Quinoa is high in protein and low in carbs. It is a great salad for meal prep the week. Add it to individual containers (or keep in an big bowl) and eat it all week.
CAN I MAKE THIS SALAD A HEAD OF TIME?
YES! This is a great salad for eating for days. You can do this two ways
- cut all veggies (excluding avocado) and keep the quinoa separate from the veggies. Toss together 30-60 minutes before serving
- Toss it all together. Make sure to either smother the avocado with lime juice OR keep the avocado separate and just add when serving.
DO I NEED A DRESSING FOR THIS SALAD?
The lime with some salt and pepper tie everything together. Each vegetable is full of juices so the salad is not dry at all. If you do want to make it a little extra fancy then I recommend making this CREAMY CILANTRO DRESSING. You'll literally lick the jar it is so good.
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Quinoa Salad with Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried quinoa
- 1 ¼ cups broth I prefer vegetable broth
- 1 tomato
- ⅓ cup red bell pepper
- ⅓ cup yellow bell pepper
- ⅓ cup green bell pepper
- ⅓ small red onion
- ¾ cup feta cheese
- 1 cucumber
- 1 avocado
- 2 stalk of celery
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of one-two limes
Instructions
- Cook quinoa in broth. Set aside to cool.
- Drain can of black beans, then rinse.
- Finely chop all veggies.
- Toss together all chopped ingredients
- Mix with fresh lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Top with avocado and feta cheese
- *to cook quinoa in pressure cooker add 1 cup quinoa, 1 ¼ cups broth, cook for 1 minute and 4-10 min natural release.
Notes
CAN I MAKE THIS SALAD A HEAD OF TIME?
YES! This is a great salad for eating for days. You can do this two ways- cut all veggies (excluding avocado) and keep the quinoa separate from the veggies. Toss together 30-60 minutes before serving
- Toss it all together. Make sure to either smother the avocado with lime juice OR keep the avocado separate and just add when serving.
DO I NEED A DRESSING FOR THIS SALAD?
The lime with some salt and pepper tie everything together. Each vegetable is full of juices so the salad is not dry at all. If you do want to make it a little extra fancy then I recommend making this CREAMY CILANTRO DRESSING. You'll literally lick the jar it is so good.Nutrition
Michelle says
Is it remotely possible to give measurements or directions on chopping and sizes. Could you indicate how many or how much? So we just gather all these ingredients and throw them all together and hope it works.
No thank you!
Kadee says
All amounts and instructions on chopping are located in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. There is also a jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
The recipe card indicated a measurement of 1/3 cup of each of the bell peppers. This will equal roughly 1 bell pepper of each of the colors. All the other ingredients should be measured as instructed in the card.
All veggies should be finely chopped. Finely chopped generally means about 1/4 of an inch. I like to use an onion chopper so everything is uniform, but you can just chop with a knife if you prefer.
Erin V says
the most beauuuuutiful salad, can't wait to make!!!!!!!!!!