Monday, April 6, 2009

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango



It feels like summer today. It's warm, there's a breeze (I live 3 miles from the ocean) and I can smell the jasmine flowers in my backyard from my open studio door. In this kind of weather, a salad is refreshing and delightful. I didn't want to make a regular lettuce based salad so I quickly went through my copy of Veganomicon and found this quinoa salad. I was lucky to have a ripe mango in my fruit bowl so I used that along with scallions and fresh tomato (to replace the red pepper). I punched up the flavor a bit by adding lime juice and chili powder to the dressing. It's yummy! It makes a lot so I'll be having this throughout the week along with my kale soup. I'm quite happy.

I just checked the weather forecast and it looks like we'll be getting rain this week. Great.

9 comments:

Foodeater said...

Yum! This is probably my most used recipe from Veganomicon, I like to make a large batch and it feeds me for a few days. Only changes I make are using a lot less oil (that book is way too oil happy), plus I like to add in some lime juice and sambal (chili paste)... and if I'm feeling really decadent I'll also throw in a bunch of chopped mint leaves and raw cashews. NOMS!

kmouse said...

Foodeater,
I like the sambal idea. I have some in my fridge. I'll have to try that!

Tha BossMack TopSoil said...

I love you for this babygurl.

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

This is such a great salad. I've made it before, too, and I love your idea of adding lime juice. It just so happens that I have a ripe mango waiting to be devoured...

Mary said...

I was planning to make this salad this week, too! I cooked a ton of black beans on Sunday, and I just watched the clip that's on the ppk blog of Isa making this salad on a morning show in Portland. I'll keep the lime juice in mind!

Oraphan said...

What a beautiful salad!! Thanks for the recipe, I will have to make this soon.

veggievixen said...

mmm great combo! i love mango in black bean salads.

Tuco said...

This looks a lot like one my wife makes... she uses cranberries, sesame seeds, celery and some other things in hers.

Cold quinoa is awesome... I haven't tasted it in a hot dish in a way that I've liked yet though.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

What is up with the incoming rain?! The salad sound lovely though!