Easy Quinoa Salad

After soaking quinoa overnight, I tweeted to see if anyone had a good recipe.

@waterlilyto tweeted an easy salad recipe that looked perfect, so I went to the store to get some canned beans and cilantro.

One of my sons won't eat black beans, so I bought light kidney beans instead. Didn't he then take one look at the salad and declare he doesn't like kidney beans?

Wrong answer, buddy. You can only hate one bean at a time in my house.

I substituted rice vinegar because I bought it last week and I am not going to rush out and buy another vinegar any time soon.

I forgot the corn. I didn't realize my omission until we were eating.

Easy Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry quinoa, soaked overnight (about 2 cups)
1 can light kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped sweet onions
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsps rice vinegar
2 tsps olive oil
Juice of one large lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Large lime and penny

Drain and discard the liquid from the bean cans and rinse the beans. Mix all the ingredients together in one bowl and then let it rest about fifteen minutes before eating.

Could it be any easier? Not without eliminating the fresh ingredients that make it taste so good.

The quinoa has a crunchy quality prepared this way that works well with the crisp vegetables and soft beans. If you prefer to use cooked quinoa, 2 or 3 cups of cooked and cooled quinoa should work well in this recipe.

Ceviche Quinoa

My son, the one who now hates black and kidney beans, loved the flavors of this salad and kept calling it ceviche. I had never heard of ceviche, but a Wikipedia search shows this seafood dish originated in Peru. This makes these seasonings seem somehow true to the heritage of quinoa to me, even though there was no seafood in the dish.

Please comment with your recipes for soaked quinoa and let me know if you tried making this easy quinoa salad.

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