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A texture filled main or side with a pop of zest lime vinaigrette, this Southwest Quinoa Salad is a fun taco bar addition or meal prep option!
Southwest Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cup dry quinoa tri-color, rinsed
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 orange bell pepper diced
- 1/2 cup frozen corn thawed
- 1 medium avocado cubed
- 1/3 cup cilantro chopped
Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice juice of about 2 limes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
Instructions
- 1. Boil 2 cups of water and add quinoa. Turn heat down and cover to simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until the quinoa has "popped" or "sprouted". Let quinoa cool.
- Make dressing by mixing olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, and garlic.
- In a large bowl add cooked quinoa, black beans, bell pepper, corn, avocado, cilantro, and dressing. Mix and enjoy!
20-Minute Quinoa Salad
This is a nice quick and easy recipe with many possibilities! The texture variety and tangy lime flavor make it a crowd pleaser.
These are some of my favorite uses for this Southwest Quinoa Salad
- Meal prep for lunch with crackers or chips
- Add it to a tortilla to make a burrito
- Eat it as a side at a taco bar
- Add it to nachos
Ingredients in Southwest Quinoa Salad
Quinoa: I chose a tri-color quinoa for this recipe, but you could also use just white quinoa. Make sure you cook it until the spouts “pop” out! If you stop cooking prematurely, the quinoa texture will be too tough.
Black Beans: Nice and easy canned, rinsed black beans add protein!
Bell Pepper: We’re adding both red and orange here for flavor and color. The crunch they add to this salad is *chef’s kiss*
Corn: Using thawed frozen tends to be the best/most convenient option, but if you have corn on the cob you can shave it off for the salad as well or add canned!
Avocado: Again, a delicious addition to add the texture in this quinoa salad!
Cilantro: Herbs just add so much flavor, but if you are someone who tastes soap when they eat cilantro, you can skip this 🙂
Lime Vinaigrette: This mixture of olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper adds the zesty flavor that ties in all of the texture pops!
Can Meal Planning Work with Intuitive Eating
We could take a lot about this, but the short answer is YES, ABSOLOUTLEY!
Intuitive eating isn’t just eating “whatever you want, whenever you want” with no plan. A non-restrictive, flexible meal plan can be an important tool to make sure you’re getting your body what it needs and is satisfied throughout the day. I even have a free meal plan and grocery list example here.
Making sure you have a plan for lunch like this Southwest Quinoa Salad or Chicken Broccoli Teriyaki for example helps to ensure you don’t get to an extreme hunger level and in turn eat until you feel sick when you get access to food or go without enough to eat.
Intuitive Eating Reminders
- A flexible meal plan can be a helpful tool with intuitive eating
- Food does not have moral value!
- Different foods can have different purposes in our diet. A high-fiber quinoa salad can be yummy and satisfying and we may want to consider pairing it with something low fiber (like a flour tortilla) to make sure we’re not getting too much fiber!
