Quinoa is high in protein, easy to digest, high in fiber and cooks in the time of white rice. But the real reason I decided to finally cook it? Because it is so damn pretty, especially red quinoa. I love to try new things so when I was thinking about what to cook last Friday night I realized how long quinoa had been on my list and decided to go for it.
The inspiration for the Mango, Avocado and Pecans were their location in my pantry and the dressing was chosen to pair well with the Chipotle Lime Snapper. It is always so exciting to try something new and to introduce the household to it. When I said we were having “an ancient grain” for dinner J was not exactly wowed but he did enjoy it.
(serves 4)
1 cup red quinoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 mango, skinned and chopped into 1 cm cubes
1 avocado, skinned and chopped into 1 cm cubes
2 tomatoes, diced
2 green onions, chopped fined
1/3 cup pecans
Dressing:
1 lime juiced
1 pinch cumin
1 pinch chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pinch chipotle powder, hot sauce or minced chipotle
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper
Put quinoa in a pot and cover with hot water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, drain, and rinse and drain again. Put back in a sauce pan with a lid and add salt and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.
In a glass jar combine dressing ingredients and give a good shake. In a salad bowl toss dressing, quinoa and remaining ingredients. Will keep in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours, it was still good the next day and the avocado was still green. (I actually ate it 3 days later and it was still delicious!)
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I have not worked with quinoa much, but I love all the other ingredients. They are so tasty and good for you…a real win-win. I wonder what my hubby will think when I serve it for dinner?
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I really like quinoa salads like this! The mango and avocado combo is a great one!
Gorgeous photos, Kate!
I've used quinoa but not the red. Did you find a difference it taste from the regular kind?
I love that quinoa is so flexible and have vowed to use it more. Of course, one recipe in, that hasn't happened. This might give me the nudge I need.
Hi Kate!
My husband and I have grown to love quinoa. I was looking for black qunioa but I couldn’t find any, I got the red instead. I was thrilled when I saw your recipe because I have almost all the ingredients expect I will be substituting the pecans to walnuts and chipotle powder to cayenne. I will be making this tonight. Thank you for sharing!
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