Quinoa and Mango Salad with Lemony-ginger Dressing
This salad has its roots in a salsa. Trader Joe's used to carry a mango-black bean salsa that I thought was the best on the planet; I used to eat it right from the jar. They stopped making it for a while, and that's when I began improvising and making it myself. At one point it hit me: Can't I make this a meal? So here we are. I've added other things I can't do without, like onions and avocado. You can certainly omit roasting the onions, but try it at least once with them roasted – the flavor really adds to this dish. The sweetness of the onions and mango plays well with the dressing. In the summer I switch it up a little and grill the components (onion, mango and avocado), and sometimes add grilled corn. I'm not a huge fan of heat in my dishes, so I don't call for any here, but spicy-fans may want to throw in a little minced jalapeno or chile pepper.
What you will need
1 cup regular, red or black quinoa, rinsed well in a strainer
2 cups water
3 mangoes
1 large red onion, halved stem to root and slivered
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups micro greens (I used a rainbow blend package from Whole Foods herb section: mizuna, curly cress, red and yellow beet, arugula, cabbage) – if not available, mesclun, spring or baby greens are fine, rinsed and dried
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1-2 avocados, halved, pitted and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
salt and pepper, to taste
Source food52.com
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