Colorful Cumin Quinoa Salad
Quinoa has become a new staple in our house since recently trying it for the first time. By the way, in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced keen-wa.
There have to be hundreds of quinoa salad recipes where it’s mixed with a variety of ingredients. So far, we haven’t been disappointed. This salad is very similar to the Bell Pepper and Black Bean Couscous Salad that Hubby loves so much. The spices are a bit different, and we both really enjoyed this salad, especially the sweetness from the mango!
One Year Ago: Spicy and Sweet Pretzel Party Mix
Two Years Ago: Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes and Stuffed Chicken Burgers
Colorful Cumin Quinoa Salad
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1/2 ripe but firm mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin, or more to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
Directions:
Cook quinoa according to package directions. You should end up with roughly 1 cup of cooked quinoa.
In a medium bowl, combine the warm cooked quinoa, mango, red bell pepper, black beans, avocado if using, scallions, and cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Pour dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Refrigerate salad for at least 4 hours before serving for best flavor. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Recipe adapted from Healthy Food for Living
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Ooh, that sounds great!
That sounds pretty incredible! Love your 5 day idea 🙂
That looks delicious! I wish I could convince my husband to eat squash. 🙁
LOVE this! Lentils are DELICIOUS and sooo good for you! This looks perfect!
Such a delicious filling salad! You pretty much had me at goat cheese…my favorite!
I made the Bon Appetit version last year with pumpkin. It was soo good. I actually had thought it would be good with butternut squash too. Great salad!
I’ve been eyeing that recipe since the original in BA and again since SK posted it. Where do you get your uncooked black lentils?
Cara – I used the Goya brand lentils from my grocery store. They were greenish brown.
This looks awesome…I have some lentils I have been wanting to use, so this will be perfect!
i made this too and it was AWESOME 🙂
I love the combination of hearty lentils, sweet and spicy butternut squash and tangy goat cheese. I can imagine every flavor in this!