Quinoa Guacamole Salad
Cheesecake Brownie Bites. Banana Bread French Toast. Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding Crème Brûlée. Things have been, how can I put this, rather bikini un-friendly around here lately (and by “lately,” I mean “as per usual”). So I decided to give the waistband of my pants a break this week by lightening up the caloric load with Quinoa Guacamole Salad.
The dish is a mash-up of two of the most popular recipes on the site, Guacamole Bruschetta and Quinoa with Corn and Scallions. It takes the best of both ingredient lists and whisks them into a whole grain, veggie-packed, fresh and citrusy salad that’s just as tasty as a starter or as a main course.
And now that it’s officially summer, I’m hoping that this recipe makes bathing suit shopping a pinch less painful. That is, until next week’s recipe hits the interwebs. (Hint: It rhymes with “schmeanut schmutter snookies.”)
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Quinoa Guacamole Salad
Yield: 8-10 servings
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked quinoa
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 avocados
2 tomatoes
½ cup chopped white onionDirections:
Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve until the water runs clear.
Add the quinoa, plus 4 cups water, to a medium saucepan. Bring the quinoa to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes (uncovered), or until the germ ring is visible (indicating the quinoa is cooked). Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl to cool.
Whisk together the garlic, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
Dice the avocados and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. (See Kelly's Notes.)
Add the diced avocado, tomatoes and onions to the quninoa. Drizzle with dressing and fold to thoroughly combine.
Serve salad at room temperature or refrigerate and serve cold.
Kelly's Notes:
To avoid adding excess liquid to the salad, de-seed the tomatoes with a small spoon before dicing.
Dice the avocados at the last possible moment to avoid having them brown prior to folding into the salad.
Rachel Cooks — May 30, 2012 @ 8:16 am
I love quinoa, and I love guac! This looks delicious. Although, I’m excited for those “schmeanut schmutter snookies” too
Denise @ Creative Kitchen — May 30, 2012 @ 9:08 am
Love quinoa!! I have a quinoa tabouleh on my site that I love. This looks incredibly tasty too!
kelley {mountain mama cooks} — May 30, 2012 @ 9:19 am
Looks delicious! Bikini season sneaks up on us every year. Darn swimsuits.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. — May 30, 2012 @ 10:03 am
looks so good and fresh! Hope you’re well!
Jennifer | Mother Thyme — May 30, 2012 @ 12:07 pm
Loving this combo! I think I may just need to make this for dinner tonight!
cassie — May 30, 2012 @ 5:13 pm
I’m head-over-heels for quinoa these days. And add avocado to anything and I’m on board. This looks like such a flavor salad, and perfect for summer!
Asiya @ Chocolate and Chillies — May 31, 2012 @ 12:02 am
Love this!!! I have an avocado in the fridge and was wondering what to do with it…now I know!!!! Thx for sharing!
Teresa — June 2, 2012 @ 12:17 am
This looks yummy. This may be a really silly question…
but what exactly is quinoa?
Kelly Senyei replied: — June 2nd, 2012 @ 11:28 am
Thank you, Teresa! Quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) is a whole grain (often referred to as a seed) and you cook it until the germ ring is visible. It’s super healthy and super filling!
Debbi — June 2, 2012 @ 10:49 am
This is fantastic! I cooked the Quinoa with low sodium chicken broth and added some red bell peppers because I needed to use them up. Will definitely be making again. This is my first time making quinoa, I have been wanting to try it for awhile it is really good. Thanks!
Kelly Senyei replied: — June 2nd, 2012 @ 11:27 am
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Debbi! Love the addition of red pepper.
Shaina — June 2, 2012 @ 11:06 am
I seriously love quinoa. The abundance of recipes I’ve been seeing all over the blogs and especially on Pinterest makes me so happy
Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy — June 2, 2012 @ 3:20 pm
what a beautiful salad! i love the colors! quinoa is such a fabulous superfood:) thanks for sharing!
Christina — June 2, 2012 @ 5:31 pm
Looks really good – I made a similar quinoa salad today as well!
Tammi Kibler | How Do You Cook Quinoa — June 3, 2012 @ 7:07 pm
This looks fantastic! I must get avocados and start cooking like it’s summer.
Gina Caruso — June 4, 2012 @ 5:15 pm
Definitely making this!!! Looks so good! Love quinoa…healthy but tasty!
6 GFCF Recipes I love for June « — June 26, 2012 @ 5:43 pm
[...] Quinoa Gucamole Salad by Just A Taste (We have just discovered quinoa as a great alternative to rice, since my son can’t eat rice [...]
Sarah — July 31, 2012 @ 10:15 pm
I could eat this everyday – love love love!
21 Mouth-Watering Vegan Taco and Guacamole Recipes | Ecorazzi — August 15, 2012 @ 10:26 am
[...] ingredient—white beans! You can even boost your guac’s protein punch with Tofu Guacamole or Quinoa Guacamole Salad. Rounding out the crazy guacamole fest, we have Pineapple Guacamole and Green Apple [...]
Maria M Triana — October 11, 2012 @ 3:07 pm
Hi Kelly Senyei, my name is Maria. This is an amazing recipe. I love all your recipes so much that I added this one to my blog, but giving the link to here, as the original source, as I always do with everything I publish. Thank you very much for your time and kind consideration and for the excellent recipes you bring to us.
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[...] GUACAMOLE QUINOA SALAD (slightly adapted from Just a Taste) [...]
Just a Taste » Pomegranate Guacamole — April 24, 2013 @ 9:34 am
[...] Feel free to add your go-to methods for extracting pomegranate seeds in the comments section below! And for all those looking for other takes on traditional guacamole, don’t miss fan favorites Guacamole Bruschetta and Quinoa Guacamole Salad. [...]
Naz — April 30, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
Nice recipe. It will also taste good if you add black beans. See my recipe here.
http://www.sweetlemonandsalt.com/2013/02/quinoa-salad-with-avacado-and-black.html