Quinoa Salad with Black Bean and Mango

What a great colorful and tasty way to incorporate healthy fruits and veggies in your meal! This salad tastes as good as it looks. With added Quinoa , it is a meal by itself. It will also go great as a side to any protein on your plate. This salad is one of the must haves any gathering at my house and is always a party pleaser. This is a great dish to take for your next potluck event.  Make sure you add enough mango so you can taste it in every bite. If you are looking for a bit of heat, you can add Jalapeno pepper as well. The leftovers taste better the next day too. So make sure you make a big batch. I recommend to use either red or tri-color quinoa as they don't get mushy hold up the shape well in the salad.

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1 cup Quinoa - tri-color or red
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 large roma tomato
• 1 cup cooked or canned black beans
• 1 mango
• 1 Avocado
• 3 tbsp cilantro

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice from 2 large lemons
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

Cook Quinoa first as it needs time to cool down before adding to the salad.

• Stovetop method: Rinse the quinoa well and drain the water. Combine one cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water in a pot, place it on the stove top and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp of salt. Once it starts boiling, close with a lid and reduce to simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once all the water is absorbed, switch off the stove and keep the lid closed for another 5 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork and let it cool completely.
• InstantPot method: Rinse and drain the quinoa, combine 1 part of quinoa to 1 part of water. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and pressure cook for 1 minute. 10 minutes NPR. Open the lid after 10 minutes and fluff it with a fork.

Make the dressing: Combine olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small glass container with a lid. Close tightly and shake it to combine. Or just use a whisk to combine it.

Assembling the salad:

• Dice all the vegetables and mango into equal sizes.
• Remove the seeds and the water from the tomato as much as possible and dice it.
• Combine all the veggies, fruits, black beans, and quinoa together. Add the dressing and mix well. Add chopped cilantro.
• Reserve the Avocado and add it just before serving as it will tend to change color and will not look pretty.